Limbo Review
by Michael Dequina (twotrey AT juno DOT com)June 12th, 1999
_Limbo_ (R) ** 1/2 (out of ****)
For 99% of its running time, the latest unconventional, uncommercial opus from writer-director John Sayles clearly had me and the entire audience with whom I saw it. _Limbo_ is set in sleepy Port Henry, Alaska, where lounge singer Donna (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, belting her own vocals) and fisherman Joe (David Strathairn), both damaged from their pasts, take their first, tentative steps in a romance. One such step is Donna, reluctantly accompanied by self-destructive daughter Noelle (Vanessa Martinez), agreeing to join Joe on a boat trip that quickly goes awry in a number of ways, leaving the three to fend for themselves against all manner of threats in the Alaskan wilderness.
The audience was completely engrossed by the intelligently crafted story and involved in these believably complex characters, all terrifically played by the lead trio (newcomer Martinez is particularly affecting). When the ending came, however, everyone was noticeably upset, as was I. Without giving too much away, Sayles extends these characters' emotional limbo into something literal, and while I understand what he was going for, it doesn't quite work. Ultimately, he leaves his characters (and the audience that grows to care for them) in, as one of the definitions listed in the film's trailer goes, "a state of oblivion or neglect," all in the name of a gimmick that is less clever than it is fatally distracting.
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Michael Dequina
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
