THE LIMEY
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: But for a little bit of fancy
editing, this could be a TV movie from the 1960s.
Steven Soderbergh gives us fairly straightforward
crime film packed nicely into about 90 minutes. A
woman who had been living with a Hollywood music
executive has died mysteriously. Her career
criminal father comes from London looking for
vengeance. Nothing extraordinary, but short and
entertaining. Rating: (0 to 10), high +1 (-4 to
+4)
Steven Soderbergh is probably best-known for his SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE of a just a decade ago. That was an unconventional film. His KING OF THE HILL was certainly a fine effort though of late he has been doing more conventional work, albeit well. OUT OF SIGHT, in spite of some violence, was an amiable film. With the exception of a little strange editing, his latest could almost be a good 1960s TV movie. It is a plain, straightforward crime film whose only surprise is that there are no real surprises. It has a bad guy and an avenger who implacably draws ever closer to his prey. We watch fascinated like we would a fly caught in a spider's web as the spider moves in for the kill.
Valentine (played by Peter Fonda) is a successful Hollywood music producer with a nice-looking house and a string of better-looking young women living with him. One of the young women was Jenny Wilson (Melissa George). She got drunk one night and was killed in a car accident never completely explained. Jenny was a women who always had self control and her father (Terrence Stamp), an English career criminal, knows there is something very wrong with the official story about the accident. Just having been released from a 9-year sentence in prison he finds his daughter is dead and he comes to the US to find out the truth. The Americans who stand in his way continually underestimate Wilson and his determination to get revenge. Wilson had been alerted to the questionable circumstances of his daughter's death by a letter from a man named Ed (Luis Guzman). Now he recruits Ed to help him track down some answers. His entourage is completed by a friend of his daughter Elaine (Lesley Ann Warren). Wilson might almost be some sort of alien killing machine, which indeed he is.
Subtle humor is generated by Wilson's use of impenetrable English rhyming slang that Ed cannot understand. In one of the films two most memorable scenes makes a long speech to a DEA official who listens patiently without understanding a single word. The other memorable scene is Wilson's assault on some uncooperative characters involved in Jenny's death. Set in a warehouse the sequence establishes Wilson as an implacable enemy. Wilson is in this country so alien to him because he has a job to do. And he does it in a straightforward and businesslike manner. Adding to the 1960s feel of this film is the fact that it has given us three 1960s stars, Stamp, Warren, and Fonda. Stamp and Warren act very well together generating some chemistry in spite of the very different backgrounds.
Soderbergh tries a number of stylistic touches, most of which work. The primary exception is the intentionally confusing visual editing. The sound will be what one expects but visually he will be rapidly cutting scenes showing the Wilson's memories, his thoughts, and the present. Occasionally the conversation seems to be going on between the two characters at two different locations at once. Probably the effect is to show the rapid flitting of Wilson's mind, but it leaves the viewer bewildered.
Another of the stylistic touches that is getting positive comment is that footage for flashback sequences is taken from Ken Loach's 1967 film POOR COW which featured Stamp 32 years younger. Certainly this is more effective than trying to make up Stamp to look a lot younger or casting another actor. It is a clever touch, but it is not as new as people seem to think. 1962's WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? used clips of early 1930s films of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as films that the characters played by Davis and Crawford had made early in their lives.
This is a fairly violent film, but its use of gore is fairly reserved, certainly by 1990s film standards. This is an enjoyable tribute to the 1960s crime film, more entertaining than one might expect. I rate it a 6 on the 0 to 10 scale and a high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 1999 Mark R. Leeper
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