The Limey
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Movie Reviews of The Limey
Movie Review: Pedestrian effort from Soderbergh
Summary: 3 Stars
Not one of Soderbergh's best, this. This is a bit of a disappointment. All the techniques he uses to such a great effect in movies like Traffic (8mm clips) come across here as pointless exercise in arty filmmaking. It seems as though The Limey was for Soderbergh just a practice run for Traffic. The docu-style camera work for the action scenes does not work. There is simply no tension. Another mistake in my opinion was to cast Terence Stamp for the lead role. He's a great British actor and has notched up some great performances since the 60s, but he's maturing in years and doesn't quite have the edge. There's nothing wrong with the story, British hardened ex-con flies to LA to get revenge on the killers of his daughter. I would venture to say that in the hands of another director and casting expert, the Limey has the makings of a first-class thriller.Movie Review: Modern Noir At It's Best
Summary: 5 Stars
Dig this, one year after Steven Soderbergh made it back onto Hollywood's A-list of directors with "Out of Sight", and one year before he became Hollywood's It-boy with "Erin Brokovich" and "Traffic", he made "The Limey", a nifty little crime thiller that plays as much as an homage to 60's icons as it does a revenge drama. The plot is simple, an aging Brit named Wilson(the Brilliant Terrence Stamp), has just been released from prison and arrives in L.A. upon hearing about is daughter's death. Everyone says that she died in a car wreck, but Wilson suspects something more sinister afoot. His investigation eventually leads him to his daughter's older boyfriend, Valentine(Peter Fonda), a sleazeball music producer who has been up to no good, and then the quest for revenge starts.
Okay, it's definately style over substance, but what style it has. With Soderbergh's masterful directing, the inventive flash-foward/flash-backward editing style, Cliff Martinez's excellent musical score, and the wonderful perfomances by Terrence Stamp, Peter Fonda, Luis Guzman, and Nicky Katt, "The Limey" is a masterfully constructed mystery that is a must own for any fan of the film noir genre.
Thanks for reading my review.
Movie Review: Stunning, Superstar-Quality Performance by Terence Stamp
Summary: 5 Stars
Terence Stamp is not a superstar, but you would not be able to tell that from this film. From the moment before the opening credits with a completely black screen we hear his character Wilson utter passionately, "Tell me! Tell me about Jenny!" until the moment late in the film when he repeats those words, Stamp completely and utterly dominates this film. The fact is, however, that Stamp could easily, with only a few changes in his early career, have been as big a superstar as anyone to come out of England in the past forty years. His early selectivity in roles in the sixties, when he was one of the icons of the decade, was legendary, as was his having taken off nearly a decade to go to India to study spirituality. As the opening credits come up, The Who's "The Seeker" plays, and the song could be applied as much to Stamp as to the role Stamp is playing. (Stamp's brother, by the way, Chris Stamp, was the executive producer of many of The Who's best albums in the 1960s and early 1970s.)The plot of the film is extremely simple: a British con is released from prison, and travels immediately to Los Angeles to investigates his daughter's Jenny's death. In most regards, this is a fairly average film, but two things make is a minor masterpiece. First, this is one of the most brilliantly edited films one can ever hope to see. It is a travesty that Sarah Flack not only didn't win an Oscar for best editing but didn't even receive a nomination. This is one of those films where the editing tells a disproportionate amount of the story. Not only that, but a five second straight on shot might feature two or three splices, giving the film a nervy, disorienting feel at times, to wonderful effect.
The second reason the film is elevated to something special is Stamp's portrayal of Wilson. Stamp's voice has gotten progressively rawer over the years, and he really doesn't sound like anyone else in movies today, especially when he reverts to a Cockney accent, as he does in this one. He radiates danger, more like the Angel of Death than a person. I have read that Soderbergh contacted Stamp before seriously beginning work on the project, not wanting to go forward with the film until Stamp's involvement was guaranteed. In other words, this film was built around Stamp, and it shows. He owns this film like few actors can own a movie. That Stamp did not receive an Oscar nomination is another absurdity.
One of the more interesting features in the film is the way that Wilson's memories of his daughter and his sense of failure as a father to her drives and motivates his behavior, sometimes in surprising and unexpected ways. One thing that helps make this more effect is the frequently noted use of footage from a film that Stamp made in the 1960s, POOR COW. Interestingly, POOR COW is the only other film that Stamp, an East Ender from London, has played a Cockney. Terence Stamp is not a superstar, but this film is dramatic proof that he coulda, shoulda been, if he had wanted to be one.
Movie Review: SLOW PACED, AND WHAT IS THE POINT?
Summary: 2 Stars
One could be forgiven for expecting great things of this movie. After all with Steven Soderbergh directing, the man behind OUT OF SIGHT, ERIN BROCKOVICH and TRAFFIC, you immediately imagine you are going to be watching another masterpiece from this hugely talented film maker. Sadly, THE LIMEY is a huge disappointment. Terence Stamp is excellent,and being a sucker for revenge movies I thought this would blow me away, but the film moves at such a sluggish pace and there seems to be no point to it. If you want a good revenge movie check out POINT BLANK. Vincent Price's THEATER OF BLOOD is another good one, though in a completely different genre. But avoid THE LIMEY...Movie Review: A superbly crafted film!
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the biggest surprises in '99, this superbly crafted film was majorly overlooked. The plot is a conventional one but shot and edited brilliantly by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Lem Dobbs.It follows an english ex-con named Wilson (played wonderfully by Terence Stamp) and his quest for vengeance for the murder of his daughter. Soderbergh and Dobbs' commentary on the DVD is worth the price.. they give an amazing insight into the situations and the overall editing style that makes this movie so interesting to watch.
This movie also features a very oddball but amusing cast of supporting actors like Peter Fonda, Leslie Ann Warren and Luis Guzman.
Another real interesting note about this movie is how they convinced director Ken Loach to lend them footage from an older film showing a younger Terence Stamp, to integrate with Wilson's ongoing character development.
Like modern noir-ish classics like Memento and Insomnia (the original version), The Limey is both entertaining and thought provoking and keeps the audience within it's reach.