The Limey (1999)

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

'haven't seen this film in years, what a treat to run across it in prime. Terence Stamp at his best, trying to undo the past with his daughter. Of course it's impossible, but it's a magnificent try. Solderbergh at his workmanlike best. The films moves along oh so beautifully,a treat in every way. The supporting cast is great, Guzman has what is probably his best role. The first time you see him, his face is magnificent, a full screen shot that blows your mind. Lesly Anne Warren, wow. I'm fixing a vegetarian omelet and then settling down to see an old friend, it's going to be great, you've just got to watch this.

The first time I saw this movie, I hated it. Then, 10 years later, I gave it another try when I saw that Soderbergh was the director. I'm really glad I did.Some of the scenes are hard to believe. Like the warehouse scene. Why would he walk into that so unprepared? In the real world, they would have just killed him, but then the movie would have only been 20 minutes long. This was the scene that caused me to hate the movie when I first saw it. But this time I overlooked it.What moved me on the second watching was the subtlety and the sadness in the movie. You feel the sadness of him not being able to be with his daughter as she grew up. As for Peter Fonda, he's just annoying. The way he's cleaning his teeth with the toothpick, and the annoying conversations he has with his girlfriend are pathetic and painful to watch. But maybe thats the point. Also, the two pool-playing hit men are annoying and Soderbergh attempts to make them interesting is a little over-elaborate. Like the scene where the one guy is talking to trash about all the actors and extras as he watches the movie set.But the scene with the DEA agent at the end accidentally slipping the file to Wilson was an interesting scene. Wilson's whole speech there was pretty interesting when he tells the DEA agent - I think we're after the same thing. But again, a little hard to believe that the DEA agent is just gonna let him go after Fonda. Like they wouldn't have shown a picture of Wilson to the witness from the warehouse shooting. At which point, the witness would ID Wilson, and Wilson gets arrested. But no, the DEA is gonna let him go after Fonda, and then after all the dead bodies pile up at Big Sur, they're gonna let him fly out of the country. Yeah right. Again, pretty hard to believe.So, while I think this is a flawed movie from a plot believability standpoint, it still has many interesting and poignant scenes, and I was able to overlook the flaws because I was entertained and riveted throughout the movie.

Terrence Stamp is truly a marvel to watch as the hard bastard main character of "The Limey". He stalks across the screen, barreling head-on into thugs, driven by a thirst for answers. His daughter didn't just fall asleep at the wheel. And someone had better start talking. The low-key tone of Soderbergh's stylish and hard-nosed crime thriller doesn't deter it from resonating with its powerful use of imagery, flashbacks and non-linear narrative. The cast is great from top to bottom; Peter Fonda, Lesley Ann Warren, Barry Newman and (most surprisingly) Luis Guzman. And there's a lingering sadness that remains long after the movie's over. We can credit Stamp for that, through his melancholy and impressive acting job. 7/10

I wasn't too sure about the way this one was cut together at first but the style soon began to settle down. It was almost like a scene was made up of several takes, all filmed on one camera and put together with nothing to break them up. In the end I came to quite like it; something different to the normal fayre. The performances were all excellent, particularly Terence Stamp; again a performance that grew on me. I also very much liked the performance of Luis Guzmán, I always feel I'm in safe hands when I see him in the cast. I guess this is one of those that grows on you the longer you watch; a revenge thriller with a bit of a difference, well worth a look.SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDEDMy score: 7.5/10You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.