The Limey (1999)
A Film Essay by Mark O'Hara
Visit Online Film Critics Society at http://www.ofcs.org
Riddle me this: when does a crime drama become an art film? Answer: when it's directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Soderbergh's direction of "The Limey" is both quiet and stunning. It's the story of a career criminal named Wilson, portrayed by Terence Stamp. Wilson leaves England for Los Angeles with the intent to investigate and possibly to avenge his daughter Jennifer's death. So what we have is a revenge story, and when we see Wilson's method of operation, we know it's going to be a violent one. In scene after scene, Soderbergh has this aging bloke step right into the rhythm of a seedy Southern California atmosphere; Wilson contacts a former friend of Jennifer's, an ex-con named Ed, who is now trying to stay clean. Wilson is shown purchasing a pistol and several rounds from a couple of bike-riding bangers. Next he follows a lead to a warehouse where he asks about a man named Valentine. When Wilson mashes a man's face and steals Valentine's address from a Rolodex, things heat up on both sides. The director shows admirable taste when he keeps the key violence off-scene.
Another dimension of the script kicks in when Wilson contacts another of his daughter's friends, an acting coach named Elaine (Leslie Ann Warren). She does not seem to think the circumstances of Jennifer's death are suspicious, but she seems to understand Wilson's need to discover the truth. Although the scenes leading to friendship between Wilson and Elaine are too few, we totally believe the connection between them. Warren is nicely cast for the role, and she plays a sophisticated foil to Wilson's Cockney-accented plainness. Guzman's Ed is also pals with Wilson. His role is to leaven the Brit's hot-headedness, or at least to help his friend to avoid prison.
What's so original about Soderbergh's method is camera work. Director of Photography Ed Lachman assists Soderbergh's vision with a series of flash-forwards: we frequently view shots from scenes that take place several minutes later. In a type of forecasting montage, the frame often slows down, cross-cuts or repeats key images. Soderbergh has always shown a fascination with multiple facets, and his narrative technique here is a successful experiment. Occasionally he resorts to holding his subject in the corner of the frame instead of in the center - a trend popular in 80's commercials. But the storytelling intelligence outweighs this cliché.
In depicting the different sides of Wilson's life - husband and father and sociopath - Soderbergh also employs various flashbacks. We see Jennifer as a child, galloping across a beach or peering through a doorway at her parents. When we watch her-a cute little girl threatening to turn her dad into the police should he go astray again -- we become closer to her and perhaps feel more acutely her father's loss. In a bizarre and original effort on the part of the filmmakers, clips from the 1967 film "Poor Cow" show a dark-haired Terence Stamp playing a thief named "Wilson." He interacts with a bubble-haired woman, and even plays a song on a guitar, and we can tell it's Stamp. What an effect! Stamp is a long-shot for nominations for major awards, but if "The Limey" gets the attention it deserves, this almost 40-year veteran of the screen will have even more roles in which to show his superior talents.
The action in "The Limey" is sudden and striking. First in the warehouse, and several times as Wilson closes in on Valentine, we see almost unexpected escalation into violence. As Valentine, Peter Fonda seems to reprise many of the roles he played in the 60's. He does seem rather Eastwood-like with his hoarse whisper; but Fonda has perfected an understated acting style that works well here, in his role of hunted man. It's fascinating to watch the touches of characterization that tell us of Valentine's underworld connections, which he tries to rationalize away. Because Valentine is not himself a violent man, he has hired the smooth and ruthless Avery (played by another veteran of many television and film outings, Barry Newman). Avery in turn hires a couple of street toughs to rub out Wilson, but is not afraid himself to pump a shotgun if necessary. Newman is a reliable actor who sketches here a sophisticated killer, completely efficient and amoral.
As much as the action of this film is well-done, it is the characterization that strengthens the story. We end up knowing so many sides of Wilson, and end up liking him, even after we see him killing one of Valentine's henchman in cold blood. The henchman is also not guiltless. So all of these characters have taints of badness, and the result is a modern naturalism, an updated revenge film with style, slickly directed and watchable more than once.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews