A mild-mannered Jiu-Jitsu teacher, Mike Terry (Chewitel Ejiofor) is proud of and enjoys his academy and teaching others how to defend themselves. He even trains several police officers. His wife Sondra (Alicia Braga) helps out at the academy, but has her own textile company and the two are trying to make ends meet.
One evening an attorney who is going through some very troubling times, crashes her car and comes into the academy to inform Mike she has damaged his car. The attorney, Laura (Emily Mortimer), is obviously suffering from a traumatic event and grabs the gun of one of the off-duty police officers who is at the academy. The gun discharges accidentally, which sets in motion a domino effect of events that change all of their lives.
Mike later ends up saving the life of a famous actor, Chet Frank, played by Tim Allen and is befriended by the actor, his family, and his agent, played by Joe Mantegna. They bring Mike and Sondra into their little enclave and everything looks like they will work out for both Mike, who is asked to co-produce a movie, and Sondra, who is given a big textile order by Chet's wife. Their financial troubles seem like they are now in the past. But things change for the worse just as quickly as they changed for the better.
After his teaching ideas are stolen, Laura comes to his defense and represents him, but she is suddenly swept into the cunning deceptions that entangle Mike and Sondra. They are in the battle for their careers.
Mike has never been into competition. He is a calm man who sees the best in people. He's the kind of person you want as a friend. But through a series of incidents (which quite frankly don't make sense), he is forced to enter a big competition.
This movie involves everything from Hollywood backstabbing, unscrupulous fight promoters, unsavory characters, and a couple of good people who get caught up in a riptide of events, not of their making, but which challenge their very souls.
And, in case you're wondering about the red belt, there is only one, which is owned by the grand master himself. His teachings were what inspired Mike and he is the person on which Mike has based his life. He is the ultimate master.
Even though the pieces of the puzzle don't quite fit together, this is an entertaining movie. If audiences take it for just that - a fictional film - and not try to figure out all the events, then they will enjoy this movie. The bottom line is this is a very entertaining movie with interesting characters. Yes, some things just don't add up, but disregard them and just enjoy the film.
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