The Limey
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Movie Reviews of The Limey
Movie Review: Kick Arse
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me tell you...this movie kicked some serious boo-Taa!Totally worth the $$$$! I haven't seenthe Dvd Version yet..however...in this professional reviewers eyes: It just beats out Jaws The Revenge! 10 out of 10 my friends.Movie Review: Terrific, offbeat action flick
Summary: 5 Stars
Expect the unexpected in this film, which is tense, humorous and filled with creativity of film-making and lots of surprises, the most interesting and enjoyable action flick I have seen in a long time.Movie Review: Terence Stamp ... mean mean and great!
Summary: 5 Stars
Great movie that hides in the sidelines ... Terence Stamp is a mean, hard and vengeful father, who does mean things, but you sympathize with him all the way.Movie Review: A moral symphony with visual jazz chords
Summary: 4 Stars
I hate the idea, arrogantly enough, of people liking a great piece of art for all of the wrong reasons. Some I have heard have gone so far left field with metaphors about the title character of this film that they have even found a way to take the inexorable rage and focus of Terence Stamp's character in this movie completely out of the actual context of the film to make him a poster boy for the Conservative Right--an often ironically apt analogy, again, for all the wrong reasons.
What makes this film so great is the integrity of Soderberg to his central character and his unique and artistic relationship to the plot. He makes his style subserivent to the story in such a way as to create the artistic paradox that says he has done the exact opposite; the marriage of the two is perfect. Terence Stamp (who is brilliant in this by the way) is a "Limey" on a juggernaut's course of revenge for the man he holds responsible for the death of his only child, a grown daughter, in Los Angeles. Peter Fonda (who is not quite as good as Stamp but does get out of his character's way at moments that are beautifully real) plays one of the many archetypal Baby-Boomer roles in existence today: an insecure, narcississtic and weak playboy/Recording Executive with a drug problem and predilection for impressionable young girls. One of these girls in his past may have been the Limey's inexplicably dead daughter. These two men are separated by an entire world--an Atlantic Ocean in one sense, and seemingly antithetical cultures on another--with many people of all walks of life (and levels of both beauty and depravity) in between. It is the painful, mysterious death of a young woman in the vicinity of one of these men that links the two of them, and is the genesis of one man's mission against the other.
But that plot is merely the icing on the cake of this movie. It is nowhere near as powerful or as important as the theme, which could only be fully experienced by an observer (us, the audience) via the heart of the main character (the "Limey" himself). This is where Soderberg's style transcends the boundaries of simple ability and approaches genius. Through the majestic techniique of breaking the time line with numerous off kilter frames of both foreshadowing and reminiscence (and you can't tell which is which or what is even real until the end ties them all up) the theme becomes prfoundly real and, with each frame, more obvious. The Limey is on the same mission he has been on virtually all of his life. He is not running toward something; he is running from himself, using the easily understandable motives behind the new thing he is coincidentally running toward as the newest and boldest version of an excuse.
Musings and abstractions on the wordly significance of the Limey's character in the context of his personal mission are pointless and become fairly infantile without taking this, the theme, into consideration. The "Limey" is not chasing after the devil to stare him in the eye and kill him; his soul has for the most part already been sold. He is chasing a false hope that the contract for his soul, already signed in his own blood on the dotted line, either does not really exist in his personal hell or can be bought back with the weak appearance of a vengeful but essentially good deed. And like every person, the irony of running away from oneself--regardless of the inner demons you're trying to escape--is that you eventually run even faster into that one and only aspect of yourself headlong.
Hell: there is no way out...but through.
The Limey has more in common with Mickey Roarke's character in ANGEL HEART than with any hero.
Terence Stamp's performance is brilliant because he makes you, like all great actors, like his character as much as he does, regardless of its above-listed failings or bad deeds. But again, that's because Stamp does such a good job at this role, not because his character, though forgiveable, is all that likeable as a person. Al Pacino did an equally great job in both THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE and SCARFACE a few years ago, but I don't see myself emulating his characters by becoming a devil-worshipping drug dealer and moving to Havana because of it. Only a child could look at THE LIMEY and call both the main character's inner pain-inspired character failings and the gradual unfolding of their obvious destructive consequences something other than what they are--and only a deeply fearful and probably formally abused child raised on too many action movies at that.
This movie is no masterpiece, but it is full of depth, with layers that bloom to reveal themselves with each passing frame. It is very good, and you will be surprised at the existential questions its simple answers ask of you, while still being entertaining.
Movie Review: Excellent but overstylized film
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a good solid drama with some strong performances. Wilson (Terence Stamp) is an ex-con who just got out of prison and is looking for answers regarding the death of his estranged daughter in a car crash. He suspects foul play and he is certain that her ex-boyfriend, music magnate Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda) is behind it. So he undertakes to seek the truth with vengeance in his heart, leaving a good deal of carnage in his wake along the way.The story itself is an interesting human drama including a number of character studies. The drama worked, but the character studies of Wilson, and his daughter Jenny were unsatisfying even though a significant amount of time was devoted to them. The most important character study, that of Wilson himself, leaves us with more questions than answers.
Unfortunately, this film is an example of style overwhelming substance. Director Steven Soderbergh has created an icon of visual style that is so prominent that it overshadowed and pushed the story into the background. In reality, based upon the amount of dialogue and the number of meaningful scenes, this story probably could have been told in 45 minutes. But through the magic of multiple perspectives and redundancies on every scene, Soderbergh managed to double that.
Soderbergh's visual interpretation was nothing short of brilliant. It was creative genius at work to be sure. Veteran cinematographer Edward Lachman must be commended as well. The use of angles, lighting, filters, music, and breathtaking locations near the ocean were all superlative; but those endless cutaways eventually made me want to throw myself from Valentine's swimming pool overlook. Incessantly, sometimes every two or three seconds, he would layer cutaway upon cutaway in a dizzying array of perspectives on the same scene. It is a terrific technique when used to dramatize a point, and Soderbergh is masterfully creative in its use. But to assemble a feature length motion picture from a patchwork of cutaways flitting back and forth through time with constant disruptions in continuity was like eating nothing but your favorite flavor of ice cream as your every meal for a month. There comes a point where too much of a wonderful thing becomes distasteful. It made it seem like Soderbergh was in desperate need of a little Ritalin during post production. (Which is why this film will probably be the delight of the Attention Deficit Generation.)
Terence Stamp gave a strong performance as the tough and enigmatic Wilson. Stamp is an old pro and gives the character power and determination. Peter Fonda's renaissance continues with another fine portrayal. Oddly, this may be the first time I remember him smiling so much. He has played so many dour characters, it almost looked strange to see him grin. Lesley Ann Warren added very little in her role as Elaine, a friend and instructor of Wilson's daughter.
I was very impressed with the work of Nicky Katt, who played Stacey. He was a very cavalier, yet charismatic villain with a wryly philosophical bent that made him both sinister and funny. I'm looking forward to seeing more of his work in the future.
This was an smartly told story that sputtered a bit at the end, but in balance was first rate. It was fabulously filmed from a technical standpoint, but it became a bit too self indulgent. It forgot that the purpose of outstanding filmmaking technique is to enhance the story, not simply to show off. I rated it a 8/10. It is worth seeing just for its merit as an illustration of the art form. If you can survive all the cutaways without sustaining cortical whiplash, you will probably enjoy the excellent story that lies within.