The Limey

Rating:
Summary: strong performances, striking, unusual cinematography
Review: This is an off-beat thriller starring veteran English actor Terence Stamp. Supporting cast includes Lesley Ann Warren and Peter Fonda. Intriguing and occasionally darkly humorous, this odd piece directed by Steven Soderbergh is addictive. Great soundtrack and stunning cinematography

Rating:
Summary: Artistically Rendered By Soderbergh
Review: The story of a man seeking truth and vengeance, "TheLimey" stars Terence Stamp as Wilson, a career criminal who intendsto find out what really happened on the night his daughter was killed in Los Angeles. While serving a nine year stretch in prison, in England, Wilson receives a newspaper clipping about an accident in which Jenny (Melissa George) died when her car went off a cliff on Mulholland. When he is released, Wilson goes straight to L.A. to track down the man Jenny was with at the time, a record producer named Valentine (Peter Fonda). He begins by contacting the man who sent him the clipping, a friend of Jenny's from an acting class, Ed Roe (Luis Guzman), an ex-con himself who steers Wilson to Valentine. Director Steven Soderbergh approaches the material artistically, using a definite pace (occasionally too slow) and interspersing brief flashbacks of Wilson and Jenny, which prove to be very effective. Stamp does well with his Wilson, having reached an age and maturity that gives him the perfect look and overall countenance with which to ably bring such a character to life. Fonda's Valentine comes off as fairly one dimensional; he comes across believably enough, but without any of the personal traits or mannerisms that could have made this an interesting character. The supporting cast includes Barry Newman (Avery), Joe Dallesandro (Uncle John), Nicky katt (Stacy) and Lesley Ann Warren (Elaine). "The Limey" is an interesting character study, but hardly compelling. Wilson is a hard guy, a man who's spent most of his life in prison; it's hard to muster up much sympathy for him. Valentine made a reputation (and a lot of money) during a couple of years in the sixties, and hasn't done much since. He's a man you neither like nor dislike, but could probably do without in your life. His remorse about what happened to Jenny seems shallow; it's all about himself, rather than her. The only truly sympathetic character here is Jenny; through the flashbacks you learn enough about her moral attributes that is gives you the insight to fully understand what really happened the night of the accident. This film has some nice moments, with one especially interesting sequence that takes place at a party at Valentine's house, in which Wilson repeatedly envisions himself shooting Valentine. There's a pensive quality about this film that works, and Soderbergh's off-center approach is interesting, he has a nice touch; essentially, he's delivered a good movie that could have been more. END

Rating:
Summary: Artistically Rendered By Soderbergh
Review: The story of a man seeking truth and vengeance, "The Limey" stars Terence Stamp as Wilson, a career criminal who intends to find out what really happened on the night his daughter was killed in Los Angeles. While serving a nine year stretch in prison, in England, Wilson receives a newspaper clipping about an accident in which Jenny (Melissa George) died when her car went off a cliff on Mulholland. When he is released, Wilson goes straight to L.A. to track down the man Jenny was with at the time, a record producer named Valentine (Peter Fonda). He begins by contacting the man who sent him the clipping, a friend of Jenny's from an acting class, Ed Roe (Luis Guzman), an ex-con himself who steers Wilson to Valentine. Director Steven Soderbergh approaches the material artistically, using a definite pace (occasionally too slow) and interspersing brief flashbacks of Wilson and Jenny, which prove to be very effective. Stamp does well with his Wilson, having reached an age and maturity that gives him the perfect look and overall countenance with which to ably bring such a character to life. Fonda's Valentine comes off as fairly one dimensional; he comes across believably enough, but without any of the personal traits or mannerisms that could have made this an interesting character. The supporting cast includes Barry Newman (Avery), Joe Dallesandro (Uncle John), Nicky katt (Stacy) and Lesley Ann Warren (Elaine). "The Limey" is an interesting character study, but hardly compelling. Wilson is a hard guy, a man who's spent most of his life in prison; it's hard to muster up much sympathy for him. Valentine made a reputation (and a lot of money) during a couple of years in the sixties, and hasn't done much since. He's a man you neither like nor dislike, but could probably do without in your life. His remorse about what happened to Jenny seems shallow; it's all about himself, rather than her. The only truly sympathetic character here is Jenny; through the flashbacks you learn enough about her moral attributes that is gives you the insight to fully understand what really happened the night of the accident. This film has some nice moments, with one especially interesting sequence that takes place at a party at Valentine's house, in which Wilson repeatedly envisions himself shooting Valentine. There's a pensive quality about this film that works, and Soderbergh's off-center approach is interesting, he has a nice touch; essentially, he's delivered a good movie that could have been more.

Rating:
Summary: a critique of the 60's and a tribute to films of the 70's
Review: The Limey is a great ride with great performances and crackling direction. However the best part of this DVD, by far, is the full length commentary by Steven Soderbergh and Lem Dobbs, the screenwriter. The two of them snipe at each other the whole way through as Dobbs expresses his frustration with the way his script was filmed and Soderbergh reacts with a mixture of defensiveness and humor. Watch the movie and then watch the commentary for a great insight into the creative tension between director and screenwriter.

Rating:
Summary: Soderbergh's direction, Stamp's acting = time well spent
Review: Terrence Stamp has had an interesting career, with smaller roles in big films like "Superman", "Bowfinger", and Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace"; as well as larger roles in small films, like "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" and Steven Soderbergh's latest film, "The Limey". Actually, "The Limey" is somewhat of a spin-off from one of Stamp's earlier films--"Poor Cow", a British 1967 film directed by Kenneth Loach. In "The Limey", it takes the minor character which Stamp played in "Poor Cow"--a thief with a wife and daughter who gets sent to jail--and sets the story as he gets out.
It opens with a black screen, with a single voiceover of Stamp interrogating someone: "Tell me about Jenny. Tell me about Jenny!" Jenny, as it turns out, is his daughter, and has died in a rather suspicious manner. What follows would otherwise be a bland story of a father's vengeance; however, thanks to Soderbergh's precise and inventive direction, [and Stamp's acting,] it turns out to be a taut and intriguing thriller. Peter Fonda is an excellent counterpart to Stamp, as the slimy, over-the-hill record producer who is suspected of being a part of narcotics ring and of killing Stamp's daughter.
Soderbergh is known to fool around with the linear timeline a bit, as he did in the critically acclaimed "Out of Sight". (OK, nearly all of Soderbergh's movies are critically acclaimed.) However, one interesting effect that Soderbergh uses in "The Limey" is, at first, we witness a conversation. In the middle of the conversation, while the conversation continues, we watch a different point of the conversation, and then a freeze frame of the listener's face. It's a very effective means of emphasizing the emotion of the two involved in the conversation, while keeping the story moving. This effect takes some time to get used to, but once you adjust, you enjoy the ride. Soderbergh also uses fantasy scenes, to emphasize Stamp's emotions, which allows the viewer to empathize with Stamp's character. This is essential, because one needs to make a fundamental connection with the protagonist in order to like a story of an ex-con ready to brutalize someone.
Soderbergh's direction and Stamp's acting make a fine duo. "The Limey" picks up in Soderbergh's masterful direction skills where "Out of Sight" left off. Definitely worth a watch. Four stars.

Rating:
Summary: Great, but uneven
Review: Although Steven Soderbergh intends "The Limey" to be fundamentally a character study, he makes a mistake in structuring the film. The jump cuts and out-of-sequence editing, while interesting, sometimes lead to boredom (and the anticlimactic ending is a bit of a letdown). It would be a little pretentious to overpraise "The Limey" as a completely effective film, because it falters, and the editing sometimes makes the performances seem like glances (where is Leslie Ann Warren?) "The Limey" is at its best when it's clicking, when Soderbergh allows Terence Stamp to revel in his performance, and the random bits of gunplay are incredible. Perhaps the best scene occurs when Stamp, after being beaten and thrown into the street by a group of young thugs, stands up and cooly walks back into the building, followed by the sound of gunshots. It's an electrifying scene, and it's too bad "The Limey" doesn't have more of them. One wishes that Soderbergh had abandoned his art-house tactics in favor of making a completely satisfying film.

Rating:
Summary: The Limey
Review: If I had 4 thumbs for this movie, they would all be pointing down. I have never seen a more stupid and boring movie in my life. I can compare it to the Pokeman movie that I had to sit through with my son at the movie theater.

Rating:
Summary: Only Psuedo-Intellectuals would love it
Review: This film is a classic example of a director peddling garbage and knowing that semi-intelligent people will see it as their obligation to love it. Like the painter who throws ink spots on a canvas, Sonderbergh hides his ineptitude behind incoherant styling. He must know that there are many low IQs who will rave simply to stroke their own egos. The morons who loved this film could not even begin to explain it and anyone who likes interesting movies will not even be able to sit through it all. A very detached, unemotional and uninteresting film. One that assumes the audience will pay to see a 2 hour MTV video (or high school student film) rather than a professionally made movie.

Rating:
Summary: nice dream
Review: This movie took me by complete surprise. I didn't know what to think of it. Some of my friends said it was kind of a mystery, the box says thriller, and I ended up believing it was a dream. Why a Dream? Because everything was out of order, time passes without you really paying attention and when its over, you're not sure if it was real or not. Not real in the fact that its a movie and its fiction, but real in the sense that it was so GOOD. The performances are amazing, the sense of loss, sense of hopelessness, sense of accomplishment, these things are all portrayed in the film excellently. I was taken paticularly by the Terrence Stamp flashbacks of him in his earlier years. The last scene is a beautiful ending, if somewhat tragic, or hopeful. I can't decide. You can decide for yourself whether this "dream" by the quirky mind of Steven Soderbergh is beautiful, or tragic.

Rating:
Summary: The getting of wisdom
Review: Terence Stamp plays Wilson, a career criminal who arrives in Los Angeles from London to find the man responsible for the death of his daughter. "The Limey" is a sensitive and mature character study masquerading as an action thriller. It's an incisive examination of a lonely man's sense of time wasted and a life squandered. The photography and editing are superb, the acting is uniformly first class, and the script is excellent. Having been underwhelmed by director Soderbergh's previous movies, I hesitated before seeing this one. Don't follow my example.