From seeing the movies of David Mamet, one gets the feeling that he is an intellectual who tries to prove he isn't an intellectual by concentrating on scenes of action and violence.

But his scenes of action and violence always seem as if they were written and directed by an intellectual.

One of the most celebrated American playwrights of our time, Mamet has a decidedly uneven record as a filmmaker. His latest, "Redbelt," is more un than even.

"Redbelt" is an overly academic take on what is essentially a genre film. The characters may stand around discussing the purity of combat and may discover they are living in a culture of corruption, but at its heart the movie is just a kung fu flick, "The Karate Kid" grown up. "The Karate Man."

Chiwetel Ejiofor, a fine actor who in no way discredits himself here, stars as jiujitsu instructor Mike Terry. Mike is an intense and dedicated trainer who unfortunately suffers from a Mametian tendency to repeat everything he says five or six times.

In every situation there is always a way to escape, he says five or six times to his star pupil who, I kid you not, is named Officer Joe.

Emily Mortimer, a fine actress who does not discredit herself, stumbles half-crazed into the jiujitsu studio and accidentally shoots Officer Joe's gun, breaking a plate-glass window.

Somehow, this seemingly minor action leads to a suicide, to indebtedness to a loan shark, involvement with a famous movie star (Tim Allen, who rather surprisingly also does not discredit himself), assorted serious betrayals and finally to the main gist of the story, participation in a nationally televised mixed martial arts event.

Mike doesn't want to participate in staged competitions because, in his quest to remain spiritually pure, he sees them as a weakness. Mamet offers no explanation for why Mike has this view, and it eventually doesn't matter.

Once Mike decides to fight in the contest, all objections he had to fighting competitions are dropped as if they never existed.

It's a sloppy story, made up of disparate plot threads forced together ham-handedly. All the characters have multiple functions in the story, even when they don't fit the character and were clearly introduced solely for the convenience of the writer.

Mortimer's character, for instance, doesn't just fire the shot. She happens to be a lawyer whose legal expertise is used by Mike, she turns out to have a reason to learn jiujitsu and even functions as a potential romantic interest. Her drug addiction is mentioned twice and then forgotten.

Some of the actors who don't specifically discredit themselves tend to discredit themselves. Alice Braga - she's Sonia Braga's niece - pauses ridiculously after every couple of words ("Mike . . . We're short . . . You have . . . no cash . . . If you don't have the cash . . . we can't fix the window"). And magician Ricky Jay, a staple in Mamet films, gives some of the worst line readings ever.

Mamet used to be known for his allegedly realistic dialogue, until people started listening to his dialogue. Mametspeak, as it is known, features those infuriating repetitions and, most painfully, his insistence on repeatedly using the word "thing" to mean any noun.

Whenever you hear characters talk obsessively about the thing, you know you are trapped in a Mamet movie and it's time to run for the exits.

Or, as his characters would say, run for the things.