Customer Reviews

The Limey (Widescreen)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This had potential, but Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda's performances are so bad that it's impossible to enjoy the film.

When you first encounter The Limey, you may not think much of it. The edit is unconventional if you're primarily used to major studio films. It's got a loose feel to the cinematography, like most Soderbergh films. It's not a slick, modern, hyperkinetic production. It's an episode in the midlife crisis of people who thought they'd die before they got old.

However, these things that may make it somewhat less accessible at first heighten its appeal on future viewings. Characters are introduced with a brief montage -- almost like you'd see on a TV show title sequence. The edit weaves conversations together in ways that don't seem logical at first.

The Limey isn't a film about logic or cold, hard, objective fact. It's a highly subjective retelling of the events that make up the story -- apparently from the view of Terence Stamp's character on his way home. It exists in the memories of those involved -- memories of Stamp's visit to Los Angeles to sort out the death of his daughter; memories of his past. For Peter Fonda, memories of southern California in the '60s and past glory.

This reflective memory form influences the cinematography -- things take on a sun-drenched, yellow/orange hue that is not dissimilar to your childhood memories. The soundtrack, too, calls back to days past with its music mostly coming from the 60s. (It's one of the best soundtracks in a long time).

One of the most impressive scenes is a dialog between Stamp and Lesley Ann Warren. The scene plays in many different places -- a pier, an apartment, and so forth. The scene jumps between them, and were you to take it at face value, it would make no sense. But when you remember that the whole film is just a memory, it makes complete sense.

The Limey is an innovative movie, mostly because of its unconventional approach to what would have otherwise been a flat revenge picture. You'll either be turned off immediately or strangely curious. I hope it's the latter for you -- it's a very interesting movie with great performances by all involved. It's one of my absolute essential DVDs.

This movie rocks SO hard cause it starts with The Who song "the seeker". its about this british ex con who just released from prison, terrance stamp. he goes to LA to see who killed his daughter. the constant flashing of clips going back and forth through time is done so well that is it anything but confusing. in it are cool stars like luis guzman who plays stamp's daughters acting class friend in Hollywood. he drives him around the city and gets him a gun and bullets from these ghetto kids at the park.
besides the opening who song, the rest of the music is perfect when it comes up. it is haunting and slowly suspesful music that suggests its 30s and 40s era film-noir influence. the film includes peter fonda, a record company executive mogul who has connections with Los Angeles crime partners. the beatles wrote the song she said she said about peter fonda.
this is a smart film that is truly a treat for its crime genre. the music, dialogue and story are craved by true crime movie lovers everywhere. and this is about as real as the genre gets. palm trees, hollywood, the hills, record executives, guns, blood, ex cons, THE WHO. I rest my case.

THE LIMEY is an engaging twist on the ol' revenge thriller motif, as Cockerney thug Terence Stamp hits L.A. like a cold slap, to find out what 'appened to 'is daughter, who reportedly perished in a car accident. In between moments of "fish out of water" dry humour, a story of lifelong regrets and melancholy emerges. Peter Fonda ably supports, in a role custom-fit for him; a rich, seedy faux-hippie who saw a good buck in the '60s-'70s L.A. rock 'n' roll business and milked it for all is was worth. Luis Guzman plays it relatively straight for once as Stamp's Latino guide around town, and Lesley Ann Warren is touching as a Hollywood B-actress who, like Stamp, is dealing with the onset of age and remorse. Another supporting player, Barry Newman, is like Fonda and Stamp, a '70s icon (from the great VANISHING POINT). Director Soderbergh's control of his story is (as ever) relaxed and guiding at the same time, and his use of an old Stamp movie from the '60s (POOR COW) to use as flashback material is near-genius. But it's the limey 'imself, Stamp, who leaves the most startling impression, his blue eyes alternately glaring and soft, his subdued temper mixed with reproach. Chilling, basically.

This movie is so beautiful. But talkies require more than a pretty picture. It's so lame in so many ways that it hurts. The editing displays an overall attempt to visually salvage the story. The characters aren't believable, interesting or even descent eye-candy. I have enjoyed Stamp's earlier work and I anticipated a great film as he's the lead. What a disappointment. The friends watching it with me bet that I wouldn't finish watching it in one sitting. Although I won the bet, I regret the couple of hours of my life that I will never get back. I guess Mr. Stamp has a large hungry family to feed or something. I'm too lazy to sell this movie on e-bay....Actually, I'm just too kind.

How come a man who started his career with the excellent: 'Sex, Lies and Videotape' managed to work backwards as far as this guy has, amazes me.

This may appeal to a seventeen-year-old schoolboy, but if you're a 'grown-up' I'd definitely give it a miss.

Terence Stamp seems to have been given a sort of retro-cool that he doesn't deserve. Even in his heyday, he was the lamest of the '60's British stars, though some people considered him very pretty.

This is like very mediocre T.V. schlock.

Soderbergh's movies are usually hit or miss for me. I love Out of Sight, Ocean's 11 and of course, Traffic. However, Solaris and now, The Limey are misses for me. There are definite great parts about The Limey, such as Terence Stamp and even Fonda, but I just never really go into the story. I was convinced Stamp's character wanted revenge, but the scenes that were supposed to convince me of his love for his daughter fell flat.
Soderbergh's signature style is definitely there though. As an early work of his, you can really see what he turned that style into later in his better works. The Limey is probably the first movie I didn't care for that I actually bought the soundtrack to, so there's something!

Although it has a fairly standard plot, ex-con seeks revenge for daughter's death, this film has several non-standard elements that save it from the 'B' action genre. There are frequent, short flash backs and flash forwards including alternate events that give a dream-like quality without turning it into 'Mulholland Drive'. There's surprising little violence, I counted less than a dozen bodies, and almost all occur off-screen. Also the protagonist anti-hero, played wonderfully by Terence Stamp, appears to be a more complicated than usual character although this isn't explored as much as it could have been. The ambiguous ending comes directly that complication. Although it has a completely different plot and is not as deep, this film reminds me a lot of 'Falling Down'.

"The Limey" is a lot like Soderberh's more recent film, "Traffic", in its looks and texture -- oodles of the sepia tone, same style of mosaic-clip cinematography, and the same relaxed, methodical pace that focuses more on character than on loud action, almost reminiscent of film noir.

The theme is straightforward: a British ex-con arrives in LA to "investigate" his daughter's death. It is the manner in which he does it that the sheer class of this film pivots on. The cast, especially Terrance Stamp, are silently convincing. The action is understated, not your wham-bam if that's what you are after, and yes there IS a lot of action.

If you care about a character-driven but intriguing murder mystery, take this for a fling. Great stuff.

Is there anything stronger than a father's love for his daughter? Steven Soderbergh's "The Limey" is a film that argues that a father would go to extraordinary lengths for the sake of his daughter - even going so far as embarking on a destructive and chaotic rampage in order to track down and punish her killer.

A man named Wilson (Terence Stamp) is released from a prison and immediately heads for Los Angeles after learning that his daughter has been killed. The prime suspect in the murder is a record producer named Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda). It turns out all of the trouble Valentine finds himself in with Wilson is due to an ill-advised business dealing with a man named Jim Avery (Barry Newman) involving illegal drugs. Avery and Valentine do their best to eliminate Wilson but the vengeful father won't be denied his revenge.

Terence Stamp has long been an underappreciated actor and "The Limey" is one of those vehicles that showcases just how talented an actor he is. The story is a simple revenge fable but Stamp's gritty and intense performance combined with Soderbergh's stylistic direction gives this film an identity all its own. This film was made before Soderbergh did his more high profile projects but it has his stamp of quality all over it. Take a look at it if you're in the mood for a small but potent film.