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The Limey
1999
With THE LIMEY, director Steven Soderbergh has crafted a stylish revenge thriller that also contains a refreshing sense of humor. Wilson (Terence Stamp), a tough English ex-con, travels to Los Angeles to avenge his daughter's death, which he is convinced was not accidental. After meeting Ed (Luis Guzman), a friend of his .. Read more
| Starring | Terence Stamp, Peter Fonda, Luis Guzman, Lesley Ann Warren |
|---|---|
| Director | Steven Soderbergh |
| Genres | Drama |
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The Limey
With THE LIMEY, director Steven Soderbergh has crafted a stylish revenge thriller that also contains a refreshing sense of humor. Wilson (Terence Stamp), a tough English ex-con, travels to Los Angeles to avenge his daughter's death, which he is convinced was not accidental. After meeting Ed (Luis Guzman), a friend of his daughter's who sent him a letter informing him of her passing, he finds out about her affair with Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda), a drug-dealing, money-laundering record producer, and begins to hunt him down. Partnered with Ed as well as Elaine (Lesley Ann Warren), his daughter's former voice coach, Wilson encounters a near-fatal beating, is thrown from a building window, survives a dangerous car chase, and battles an army of L.A.'s toughest criminals. Soderbergh's follow-up to the critically beloved OUT OF SIGHT finds him in similar neo-noir waters, but this time he utilizes atypical editing and narrative technique for the film's entirety. In a striking move, he ingeniously incorporates footage of Stamp as a young man in Ken Loach's 1967 film POOR COW for truly realistic flashbacks. As the fuming Wilson--a hell-bent, white-haired avenging angel--Stamp proves, once again, to be a truly magnetic screen presence.
| Starring | Terence Stamp, Peter Fonda, Luis Guzman, Lesley Ann Warren, Barry Newman, Joe Dallesandro, Nicky Katt, Amelia Heinle, Melissa George, William Lucking |
|---|---|
| Director | Steven Soderbergh |
| Studio | FILM 4 |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 25 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | English |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Released | DVD: 12 May 2008 Production year: 1999 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (6)
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The past lives of Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda underline and illuminate this Steven Soderbergh thriller. Stamp plays Wilson, an English ex-con out for revenge, and Fonda is Valentine, a millionaire record producer whom Wilson thinks caused the death of his daughter. Stamp is shown as a much younger man in a flashback taken from Ken Loach's Poor Cow (1967), while Fonda is now of an age where he has to hire minders to do his dirty work for him. With its Chandleresque dialogue and machine gun resonance, this requiem for the hard man is in the top flight of gangster movies.
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A revenge thriller told in an elliptical manner that does not quite conceal the familiarity and predictability of its story.
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Most helpful member's review
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7 out of 8 people found this review helpful
The idea was good...
but the execution is painful to watch: all that talent and money going to waste.
Terrible acting by Terence Stamp: his accent may convince a Californian but to a Londoner it sounds like a lovey trying to play the hard man. You'll want to laugh but will be too uninterested to bother.
The bad acting is matched by the self-conscious and pretentious approach taken by the director which just further hinders the viewer from engaging with the story and the main character.
Avoid. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Cockney Mockney, not done properly
Sodernburg is up to his usual tricks with this smooth and cool picture. His stylish editing some times leaves you feeling directed to, it's almost like every time someone has a conversation they have it twice in two different places with both conversations being shoe horned into the same space.
The cutting from past to present proves a quite inventive form of story telling.
Unfortunately if you're English you'll find the leading character a very bad cockney gangster cliché, who goes as far as to translate his cockney banter to his American friends. With a list of banter right out of the Usbourne 'How to Be A Cockney' Guide book.
This puts a massive dampener on a what would otherwise be a pretty good film.
If your cockney prepare to be patronised.
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- Owen from Clapham
- Posted 23 Jun 2004 12:00
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News and features
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Gorgeous George
- 05 Mar 2007
Back in 1997, George Clooney was still a TV heartthrob first, a movie star second. He had just made a $100 million blockbuster - Batman & Robin - but he knew it sucked. He headlined a couple of competent A-list pictures, One Fine Day and The Peacemaker, but neither of them was better than average. 'I was being held to a higher yardstick, and I realised I better hold myself to a higher standard,' he said, looking back. ound this time, the director Steven Soderbergh was in a deep funk. His debut Read more
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The Limey
With THE LIMEY, director Steven Soderbergh has crafted a stylish revenge thriller that also contains a refreshing sense of humor. Wilson (Terence Stamp), a tough English ex-con, travels to Los Angeles to avenge his daughter's death, which he is convinced was not accidental. After meeting Ed (Luis ...
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