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"This
'Limey's' a Bloody Good Bloke"
by Scott Mantz
"The Limey"
Terence Stamp, Peter Fonda
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
There's nothing
like a good ol' revenge-themed movie where you root for the bad
guy. Mel Gibson just did it in last year's "Payback", but not with
the flair for style presented here by director Steven Soderbergh.
With excellent characters and a witty script, the smart and intense
redemption thriller "The Limey" harkens back to the experimental
filmmaking days of the late 60's and early 70's.
Remember the
guy who portrayed General Zod in "Superman II"? Well, not only was
he in the indie hit "Pricsilla: Queen of the Desert" a few years
ago, but he had a small-but-memorable role in last summer's "Bowfinger".
In "The Limey", he pulls out all the stops. His commanding presence
as an ex-con out to avenge his daughter's death successfully carries
the whole movie.
Wilson (Terence
Stamp) receives word in the form of a newspaper clipping that his
daughter has died in Los Angeles (it figures). He traces the letter
to the home of Ed (Luis Gusman), an acquaintance who knew her from
acting class. Estranged during her father's 9 year jail sentence,
she ran off to LA and got involved with a sleazy record producer
named Valentine (Peter Fonda). Convinced that he was involved with
her death, Wilson becomes obsessed with revenge.
Director Soderbergh
looks like he had some fun in the editing bay. He pieces the story
together with a cut-and-paste approach that does away with traditional
filmmaking. "The Limey" jumps back and forth in time like "Pulp
Fiction", but with much greater intensity. The result is a fast
and fresh style that makes you wonder where the time went.
Having Peter
Fonda play a corrupt music producer is inspired casting. Fonda gives
a wink-and-a-nudge to his 60's "Easy Rider" heritage and clearly
enjoys the sleazy role. When asked by his old-enough-to-be-his-daughter
girlfriend what the 60's were like, he replies, "It wasn't the whole
decade--just late 1966...and early 1967". Also, there are some jibes
about LA. While at Fonda's house party at the top of the Hollywood
Hills, Luis Gusman comments about the smog, "Take a look. There's
a city out there somewhere!".
Soderbergh was
wise not to portray Wilson as a cold blooded killer. Softening him
up and giving him a heart keeps the picture from moving into "B-movie"
territory. In a way, "The Limey" plays like a distant cousin to
"Unforgiven". In both movies, the lead characters are looking to
redeem themselves for the actions of their past and the women they
loved. Wilson realizes (the hard way) that his daughter's admiration
for him was so great, she fled into the arms of someone who was
just like him.
The movie falls
a little short in two aspects. First, Wilson and Ed may make a bizarre
dynamic duo, but it doesn't make sense why Ed would risk his life
for someone he doesn't even know. What's in it for him? Second,
after an intense buildup, most of the bad guys wind up killing each
other accidentally. We've seen this before in movies like "True
Romance" Sometimes it works, but in this case it seems like a cop-out.
Major pictures
can fall short when your lead actor is so big, you can't get past
who your watching. As much as I enjoyed goofball Robin Williams
in "Patch Adams", I still knew I was watching goofball Robin Williams.
Using a more obscure actor like Terence Stamp accentuates this movie
as a whole. Also, it gives Stamp a chance to shine in a role that
proves, no matter how hard you try, sometimes you can't make up
for the past.
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