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The first thing you notice about writer-director David Mamet’s “Redbelt” is that it doesn’t rely on his trademark verbal choreography. Or maybe it does, but this time silence is as crucial as dialogue.

The second thing you observe is that Mamet has made a film about fighting that isn’t about fighting. It’s about the samurai code and the philosophy of Brazilian jujitsu and what it demands of practitioners in terms of honor, discipline and mental acuity. And how even a wise man can be a fool, but his code can redeem him.

In “Redbelt,” Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor) owns a Brazilian jujitsu academy in a downscale part of Los Angeles. He doesn’t teach his students to fight; he teaches them to prevail. Mike never participates in fight competitions; he thinks they weaken the fighter. He comes up with his own tests for himself and his acolytes.

One of Mike’s most devoted students, a policeman named Joe (Max Martini), is committed to upholding the honor of the academy, even when it creates hardship for him. He does a good thing when a distraught woman, Laura (Emily Mortimer), rushes into the building and makes a huge blunder. After Mike comes through with his own generosity, the stage is set for trouble.

Mike’s wife, Sondra (Alice Braga), has a business importing rich fabrics from her native Brazil, and she tries to cover the academy’s losses with her money. But with a stack of bills and no way to pay them, she forces Mike to go ask her brother, Bruno Silva (Rodrigo Santoro), a nightclub owner and fight promoter, for a loan.

Bruno offers no help — unless Mike fights in a mixed-martial-arts bout. But before leaving Bruno’s club, Mike comes to the rescue of Chet Frank (Tim Allen), a burned-out action-film star trying to have a quiet drink, when another patron tries to start something with Chet.

Chet is so grateful that he sends Mike an expensive thank-you gift and invites Mike and Sondra to dinner and Mike to the set of his new movie. He raves about Mike’s techniques, while Sondra finds Chet’s wife, Zena (Rebecca Pidgeon), and her friend, Lucy (Jennifer Grey), eager to get involved in her business.

Fortune seems to be smiling on the Terrys, but when something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Mike finds himself exactly where he doesn’t want to be, and he’ll see a lot of heartbreak and betrayal before the movie is through.

“Redbelt” features such Mamet regulars as Pidgeon, Joe Mantegna as producer Jerry, Ricky Jay as fight promoter Marty, David Paymer as loan shark Richard and Matt Malloy as a lawyer. But the focus is on Mamet’s newcomers.

Ejiofor (“American Gangster”) once again proves he can do anything. He captures Mike’s simple but demanding code and makes doing the right thing feel as essential as breathing.

Braga (“I Am Legend”) and Mortimer (“Lars and the Real Girl”) convey the complexities of their characters with raw honesty, while Martini is fascinating as the policeman who can’t seem to catch a break. Allen hits the right notes as Chet.

Real-life fighters flesh out the film, adding authenticity to the proceedings and hinting that Mamet might veer toward genre formula. But as always, Mamet twists things around, putting “Redbelt” into its own category: samurai meets Gordon Gekko.

Rated R for strong language.

Four stars (out of five)

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Contact Knoxville News Sentinel film critic Betsy Pickle at pickle@knews.com.