Two actors best known for their work in the late 1960s,
Terence Stamp and
Peter Fonda, star in
The Limey,
a drama in which a recently released felon contemplates the gulf
between aging criminals like himself and their modern counterparts.
Wilson (
Stamp)
is a British career criminal who has been released after nine years in
prison. He has learned that his daughter Jenny died under suspicious
circumstances in Los Angeles, so he travels to America for the first
time to find out what happened and who's responsible. With the help of
an ex-con named Ed (
Luis Guzman), Wilson discovers Jenny was romantically involved with Valentine (
Fonda),
a middle-aged record producer with a shady past and a fondness for
young women. In hopes of getting the truth -- and getting to Valentine
-- Wilson finds himself doing battle with some of the worst criminals to
crawl from the underbelly of Los Angeles; along the way, he also meets
Elaine (
Lesley Ann Warren), an older actress who knew Jenny and reminds Wilson of how little he really did for his daughter while she was alive.
Steven Soderbergh's first film after his commercial comeback with 1998's
Out Of Sight,
The Limey features, along with
Stamp and
Fonda, two other notable 60's actors in supporting roles,
Barry Newman and
Joe Dallesandro.
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Review By
Matthew Tobey
When watching The Limey in light of Steven Soderbergh's 2000, big-budget
crowd-pleaser Erin Brockovich, one has to wonder if it was intended
less as a follow-up to 1998's Out of Sight than a final art-house hurrah
for the director, before being ushered onto the Hollywood A-list. After
all, while Soderbergh has proven himself to be one of Tinseltown's
smartest, most imaginative talents, with an ability to wow critics and
please the masses at the same time, it's doubtful he'll ever again have a
profile low enough to make a film as demanding of an audience's
attention and void of star power as The Limey. Terence Stamp's Wilson is
an aging British ex-con struggling to come to grips with not only the
mysterious disappearance of his estranged daughter, but with America and
the world after a nine-year prison stint. Soderbergh presents the story
through a barrage of risky and unconventional camera and editing
techniques, which always add to the tone and somehow never seem
gimmicky. One of the best examples of this is the use of clips from
1968's Poor Cow as flashbacks. Featuring a 29-year-old Stamp, Poor Cow's
contrasting film stock and color palette give the scenes the look of a
memory, as if the viewer is seeing it just as Wilson does. Stamp
delivers a performance that is both subtle and engaging, as Wilson
contemplates the life he's lived and sets off on a vengeful hunt for his
daughter Jenny's former lover, played by Peter Fonda. Fonda is just one
of the supporting players who adds depth to the picture. Others include
Nicky Katt, Leslie Ann Warren, and perhaps most outstanding, Luis
Guzman. Guzman, who later gave a scene-stealing performance in
Soderbergh's Traffic, plays Ed, one of Wilson's few allies. With no one
else to trust, Wilson forms an unlikely bond with Ed. The interaction
between the two characters is unique, human, and understated, much like
the film itself. While The Limey may not have broken a hundred million
dollars at the box office (or five million, for that matter), or gotten
the recognition it deserved from the Academy, it still holds its own
among Soderbergh's films; in fact, it's one of his best.
