One of the challenges of being a great artist is that not all of your art is going to be great. The Beatles wrote several songs that lesser acts would have turned into careers, but that nonetheless lack the power of "Yesterday" or the joy of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"; George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier is an excellent work of journalism, but not nearly as good as Homage to Catalonia. Redbelt, the latest film from writer-director David Mamet, is not as impressive or thought-provoking as some of his other dramatic works, like Glengarry Glen Ross or House of Games or Oleanna; at the same time, it's an exciting, engaging mix of drama and action supported by an immensely appealing lead performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dirty Pretty Things, Children of Men).

Redbelt's subject and setting may make it seem incongruous -- Why is one of America's greatest playwrights making a film about mixed martial arts and Jiu-jitsu? -- but it's actually in keeping with Mamet's other recent entertainments like Spartan, his work as a co-creator of The Unit and his pseudonymous work on the screenplay for Ronin. Redbelt fits in with these projects: They have a kind of heroic stoicism under them; they're stories of honorable men in a dishonorable world. They've all got a kind of muscular poetry, too, a hard-bitten nobility that's still a little sad about the edges.

Here it is. Just as it was gratifying to see all the hallmarks of the X-Files franchise in the X-Files 2 trailer we linked to yesterday (it's since been pulled, but will no doubt reappear in studio-sanctioned form soon), it's great to see all the David Mamet staples pop up here. Hey, there's Ricky Jay, and Joe Mantegna, and Rebecca Pidgeon! Magic tricks! Macho posturing! Hints of cons, and cons within cons! Best of all, we get to hear a little bit of that unmistakable clipped Mamet-speak:

"Excuse me. Uh, who's the...?"
"It's alright. Come in."
"I believe I..."
"Hey Joe, take the lady's coat!"

Music to my ears. And far from straying from his usual milieu with the mixed martial arts angle, Mamet seems to have used it to create another of his shady underworlds where nothing is as it seems. For fans of the man's work, watching this trailer is like settling into a comfy old recliner.

I never thought it would happen, but it looks like Tim Allen has finally gotten sick of his kid flicks and goofy entertainment, and is looking for a little variety. First came the half-family, half-adult Wild Hogs. Now he's got some older fare on the horizon that's being topped off with his feature directorial debut. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Allen will helm and star in Crazy on the Outside, an indie adult comedy that's looking to cast Ray Liotta, Carrie-Anne Moss, Julie Bowen (Boston Legal), and Kelsey Grammer in co-starring roles (they're all in negotiations).

Written by Judd Pillot and John Peaslee, the indie will focus on an "ex-con who finds his life outside of prison to be much crazier, especially once he enters his sister's world." There's no word on who will play who, but if Allen has the con role, he'll get to tap back into his bad-boy early days. Whatever the case, it'll be nice to see him without the Santa suit, and doing something indie with a fun cast. This could be his jump to more work behind the camera, but considering that his only other directorial credit is an episode of Home Improvement in 1999, I don't think this will be a career shift.

You know, if this movie had been made by anybody else but David Mamet then I would have fully expected to catch this flick late at night on the USA network and for it to star Michael Dudikoff. One look at the trailer above, though, and you know you are not dealing with the usual action cheese.

Redbelt stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as master of Ju-Jitsu who has dropped out of the unscrupulous world of professional fighting. After he helps out a mouthy movie star in a bar one night (as played by Tim Allen) he is eventually forced back into the ring of UFC fighting to defend his honor. There is also a hint of a freaky fighter selection process involving marbles and tying your hands behind your back, but that explanation is best left to the trailer.

Appearing alongside Ejiofor are Emily Mortimer (aka, the woman with 'Avian Bone Syndrome' on TV's 30 Rock), Alice Braga (I am Legend), Ricky Jay (who you might recognize as the cameraman from Boogie Nights and a few million other films), and Joe Mantegna. Mamet, who is a big fan of Ju-Jitsu and UFC fighting, wrote the script himself, and besides a few photo releases this trailer is our first chance to see what the film is actually about. Like many, I was having a hard time reconciling a master like Mamet with this kind of subject matter, but luckily it looks like it is all going to turn out for the best. Redbelt will hit theaters in a limited release on April 25th of this year.

So to start with, I can't say I'm all that jazzed about watching a movie about Ju-Jitsu, but this is one directed by the master of snappy dialog David Mamet -- and so that definitely helped raised my enthusiasm level. ComingSoon.net now has two new exclusive photos from Mamet's sports-drama, Redbelt. News of the film hit last April, when Monika gave us the heads up that Chiwetel Ejiofor had been signed for the lead. Not long after that, Patrick gave us the word that Tim Allen -- that's right, Mr. Toolman Taylor himself, was set to play the spoiled movie star Chet Frank. Rounding out the cast is martial arts master Randy Couture, Joe Mantegna, Rodrigo Santoro, and Emily Mortimer. The first image was released in August and these latest hi-res photos give us the chance to see Mamet at work on set.

Mamet wrote and directed the story, which centers on Mike Terry (played by Ejiofor); the chief instructor at the Southside Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Having shunned the spotlight of competition fighting, everything changes when, "At his brother-in-law's club one evening, Mike saves a famous action star, Chet Frank, (Tim Allen) from a severe beating. His defense of Frank leads to a job in the film industry, but other events conspire to force Mike to participate in a prize fight. An American samurai film set in the world of mixed martial arts, Redbelt is a story about the limits of a single man's integrity." Sounds like a perfect theme for a 'macho' director like Mamet. Redbelt opens in theaters on April 25.

It looks like Tim Allen, otherwise known as Henry Lefay, has found his second, and err...umm... fourth wife. (This one got a repeat performance!) The Hollywood Reporter has posted that The Six Wives of Henry Lefay has finally finished its cast with Darma herself -- Jenna Elfman. The movie, which started shooting in Connecticut this week, is about a man (Allen) whose wife and ex-wives fight over his will when they think that he's dead. Elfman's character is the "small-town diva" wife. Since they range in ages from 25 to 55, you can imagine what sorts of jokes the flick will likely use.

Elisha Cuthbert, who will play Allen's daughter, told Cinematical about the feature back in June, and THR followed suit with most of the wives in August. They are: Andie MacDowell, Paz Vega (Spanglish), Kelli Garner (Thumbsucker), and S. Epatha Merkerson (Law & Order). Considering the fact that there's only five, I don't know why the flick, written and directed by Howard Michael Gould, couldn't be called The Five Wives of Henry Lefay. Is this supposed to be funny and quirky, like that whole "Happyness" title?

Seeing that they make sure to mention that Cuthbert's character doesn't marry, and IMDb lists one other person on the cast -- Eric Christian Olsen (The Last Kiss) -- I'm thinking he's her love interest. You know -- the father is so very dysfunctional (especially if he's only assumed to be dead) that she has to figure out if she can handle a real, long-term relationship. Or, maybe I'm wrong and he's a gardener, a step son, or something else.

In June, Elisha Cuthbert broke the news to our Ryan Stewart that she would be starring in a family comedy called The Six Wives of Henry Lefay with famcom guru, Tim Allen. As she described it: "it's a really fun family film about a girl who has to organize her father's funeral in the midst of dealing with six ex-wives." Now official word is out, plus more details about the production and who exactly is involved. As The Hollywood Reporter describes it, the film, which will be directed by Shrek the Third scribe by Howard Gould, "centers on a man (Allen) whose wife and five ex-wives -- ranging in age from 25 to 55 -- fight over his will when they believe he is dead." So, the guy might not be dead, and will pop up later as a surprise? Perhaps he'll reveal that it's all just a rouse?

We already know that Cuthbert is the daughter, but what of the wives? So far, Andie MacDowell, Paz Vega (Spanglish), Kelli Garner (Thumbsucker) and S. Epatha Merkerson (Law & Order) are in talks to play spouses. Who will fill in for the final two wives remains to be seen. Perhaps this will be the big comedic comeback for MacDowell, who hasn't found many high-profile roles since her success in the 90's. But forget that for a moment and take a look at that list of wives. They not only tap into a few nationalities and races, but also a spectrum of ages. Garner, who recently played Justin's girl in Thumbsucker, is just two years younger than Cuthbert. Considering all the types of women the film is picking, I won't be surprised if we see a man amongst Allen's wake of wives. We should have more news for you soon, as production begins next month in Connecticut.

Earlier today, I received a call from Elisha Cuthbert to discuss her upcoming movie Captivity -- I'll be posting that interview as soon as I have time to sit down and type it out -- but since the news cycle doesn't sleep, I thought I'd go ahead and give you the casting news that she dropped to me during the course of our talk. She's just signed for a family comedy called The Six Wives of Henry Lefay, and she begins shooting in mid-August. Rumors have flown for a while that this would be Tim Allen's next project, and Cuthbert confirmed his involvement to me in addition to her own.

"I'm gonna go off and do a movie with Tim Allen," she said. "It's a comedy and it's got a huge cast. Coming off of Captivity, where it's pretty much only me in the film -- with Sassy Girl, I'm playing opposite Jesse Bradford -- I sort of wanted to find an ensemble film, and this one happened to come my way. It's called The Six Wives of Henry LeFay and it's a really fun family film about a girl who has to organize her father's funeral in the midst of dealing with six ex-wives. It's so funny. It's so much fun, and it's gonna be great to work with six different actresses. It's gonna be a great time, so I'm looking forward to that." There's not much more information about Six Wives that's been made public yet, but now that the cat is out of the bag, expect to hear a lot of details soon. Stay tuned to Cinematical for all the latest.

When David Mamet is on, he is one of our finest writers. His script for Glengarry Glen Ross should be required reading for anyone aspiring to write for stage or screen. Mamet has put words in the mouths of some of the greatest actors in film history: Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, and now ... Tim Allen? It's true, Allen will star in Mamet's Redbelt. And it gets stranger -- the film is a "martial arts drama." I'm quite serious. Mamet wrote and will direct the film, which co-stars Children of Men's Chiwetel Ejiofor. Rounding out the cast are Emily "Brittle Bones" Mortimer, City of God's Alice Braga, 300's Rodrigo Santoro, Crank's Jose Pablo Cantillo, and Mamet regulars Ricky Jay, David Paymer, Joe "Fat Tony" Mantegna and Rebecca "Mrs. Mamet" Pidgeon. If that cast isn't crowded enough for you, the film also stars "martial artists and fighters" Randy Couture, John Machado, Danny Inosanto, Enson Inoue, and Ray Mancini.

According to imdb, Redbelt is "the story of Mike Terry (Ejiofor), a Jiu-jitsu master who has avoided the prize fighting circuit, choosing to instead pursue a life of honor and education by operating a self-defense studio in Los Angeles. Terry's life is dramatically changed, however, when he is conned by a cabal of movie stars and promoters. In order to pay off his debts and regain his honor Terry must step into the ring for the first time in his life." Allen will play "a troubled action star with marital problems who meets the master when he is getting pummeled in a street fight." I'm sorry, doesn't this sound like something Jean-Claude Van Damme and Gary Busey would have starred in back in 1988? And, you know, I was just about to close this article with a line about how I'm not worried because you can usually trust Mamet to deliver the goods, but then I noticed his next project is something called Joan of Bark: The Dog that Saved France! If this is an Air Bud sequel, we'll know the guy has officially lost his mind.

I have a special rule when it comes to Tim Allen: unless it's a sequel to Galaxy Quest, I will not see any movie starring the former Home Improvement star. I know I'm not alone in having such a rule. Nobody I know likes Allen or the majority of his movies (Quest is the exception for most, it seems). But a lot of people apparently love his work and so Disney will continue to employ his comedic "talent". Obviously, he was partially the draw for this year's shockingly huge Wild Hogs, which was big enough to get Disney going on a sequel.

The latest picture the studio has attached Allen to is called Yosemite Three, which was greenlit based on a pitch from writers Michael Carnes and Josh Gilbert (The Wayne Brady Show). The idea has Allen and two others playing AWOL corporate employees who hide out in a bar while their co-workers head off on a mandated hike through Yosemite National Park. These lazy guys are eventually reported missing by the hikers and become the subjects of a popular news story. Whether or not the trio has access to a television and knows about their status is not reported. In case you want further confirmation that this movie will suck, though, it is being produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, who together gave us the remake The Shaggy Dog.

Carnes and Gilbert are a hot duo in Hollywood right now, despite the fact that they haven't yet had success on the big screen. Of course, this is only because none of the movies they've written have been released. The first will be Mr. Woodcock, which we told you about in October), arriving in the fall. Then there is the "Untitled Man vs. Nature" film that used to be called Furry Vengeance, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Piven. They've also got two projects that are not yet in production: Stalker, A Love Story, which will star Owen Wilson, and The Worst Man. I nominate Allen to be the titular star of the latter.