If you like this movie... I'm sorry, but you're a douche.

Mamet is probably my favorite director. I'm not pretentious at all, I just love the scripts, the subtleties, the gaps in conversations, the way so much is left unsaid.

For me (and I think for almost everyone else) watching a film is more about gut reaction than careful consideration. I don't watch a Mamet film thinking the analyzing the whole time. It's not like I'm taking notes. I'm just captivated by the stories, the stoic protagonists, the complex plots, etc. I loved this film, loved Spartain, House of Games, Homicide, and every other Mamet film. That doesn't make me better than you, to each his own.

First point I need to make is excuse any misspelling and incorrect grammar because I understand that for all the intelectuals that have perfect grasp of the English language will discount point of view entirely based on that, as all intelligent people first must master the English language, so anyone that doesn't read or speak english well just suck it.

Ok now on to my point. This movie was't all bad. Cinematography was pretty decent except for the fight scenes. The lead was really good but most of the supporting cast seemed like amateurs.

I thought this movie was suppose to be based in reality somewhat (I understand you have to suspend reality for all movies but don't do something that will make me say "That makes no f'n sense") but when he was fighting the security just before the climax, everyone waited their turn to take the Protagonist on one on one. That is a staple of bad martial arts movies.

The orginal poster was right about character motives, they made entirely no SENSE, from the cop hiding the fact the girl accidentaly fired his gun all the way to the point of killing himself over a suspension at work. I understand honor plays a large part in this movie but there is no honor in what he did. I don't need to be spoon fed motivation but a little clarity would be nice. There were many characters that were useless in the film. Tim Allen's Hollywood Star was only to get the main character into a larger financial bind as well as setup the cop to kill himself. I could go on and on about the other characters but I don't want to commit that much time.

This movie was full of useless characters, pointless secondary story lines, and a cast that for most part couldn't act their way out of a wet paper bag. If you liked this movie... well we all like bad movies from time to time, I am partial to dance movies (our secret). But I will admit it if they are bad movies. I will say this though, this movie is lacking what Mamet is known for as well as what the audience who aren't Mamet fans watched the movie for, which is good fight sequences. Either way in my opinion this is a bad movie.