The Limey Review
by John Beachem (jabii1 AT email DOT msn DOT com)May 19th, 2000
THE LIMEY
Review by John Beachem
* * *
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Written by: Lem Dobbs
I've always disliked the saying: "A triumph of style over substance". This might be because it is so overused when applied to movies with both style and substance (like last year's "Fight Club"). However, I can think of no more accurate description for Steven Soderbergh's ("Out of Sight") "The Limey". Soderbergh's film is so steeped in style that you may not even notice what a hollow movie it really is. You'll most likely be too busy marveling at the way Soderbergh shifts time periods in a split second while continuing one narrative; or the way he manages to make footage from old Terence Stamp movies fit seamlessly into this current story to notice what a frightfully boring and often incoherent film "The Limey" really is.
Wilson (Terence Stamp) is a man just released from prison after serving time for armed robbery. He receives a letter from a man in America, named Ed (Luis Guzman), telling him that his daughter, Jenny (Melissa George), has just died in a car accident. Wilson travels from England to meet with Ed, in order to determine who "snuffed" his daughter. His search soon leads him to Jenny's ex-boyfriend, Valentine (Peter Fonda). Valentine is a rich music producer who also dabbles in drug running. Wilson also meets up with Elaine (Lesley Ann Warren), Jenny's voice coach in acting school. Wilson, Elaine, and Ed decide to take Valentine down, with a little unwelcome help from the police, who are looking for the money from Valentine's last run.
If you sit back and just look at the plot of this film, without any of the style or interesting camera work, you'll see what a simple film it really is. When you get right down to it, "The Limey" is nothing more than a simplistic revenge story. While Soderbergh's direction may be innovative, it's also rather confusing at times. Images we sometimes see in the middle of the movie have already happend long ago, or will happen at the end of the film. While we're being shown these scenes which may not have happened yet, the characters in the present keep chattering on even though we can no longer see them. It seems interesting at first, but eventually it's just annoying. It also hinders the story because half the scenes shown during these moments are never explained.
The acting in "The Limey" is certainly the film's strongest element. Terence Stamp (who most of today's audiences will only know from his brief appearance in "Star Wars: Episode One") is simply brilliant as a vengeful man who was going to start his life over. Peter Fonda, who gave a great performance in "Ulee's Gold", is sadly miscast yet still manages to do an adequate job. Luis Guzman ("Magnolia") is one of those actors who shows up in almost everything, and all you can think is "I know that guy from somewhere". He does quite a good turn here as Wilson's rather reluctant sidekick. Last, we have Lesley Ann Warren ("Twin Falls Idaho") giving a great, understated performance as the mother Jenny never had. Unfortunately, Warren and Guzman are given very little screen time considering what interesting characters they play.
"The Limey" will certainly go down in history as one of the most fashionable movies of the '90s, but I do hope people in the future are able to see it for what it really is: candy coated outside, empty inside. The movie may only run 86 minutes, but a lot of that time is filler because there is so little plot. As a result, the subplot about Valentine's drug running and troubles with the law are hardly touched upon. Instead, we get scenes like Terence Stamp walking in front of a wall while he talks about his mates back in England. I recommend "The Limey" to arthouse film students, but I can't recommend it to anyone else because I guarantee the rest of you will be quite bored. I give it three out of five stars for acting and technical merit.
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* * * * * - One of the best movies of the year.
* * * * - Great flick, try and catch this one.
* * * - Okay movie, hits and misses.
* * - Pretty bad, see it at your own risk.
* - One of the worst movies ever made. See it only if you enjoy pain.
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.
