Limbo (1999)

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The first half of "Limbo" has strong character development. Unfortunately only a small number of those characters have any bearing on the remainder of the film. For example, the culture clash between the Alaskans and the tourist industry, was totally gratuitous. There is also an inordinate amount of small talk that leads nowhere. All of this could be forgiven, if once the story kicks into gear, with the mother, daughter, and David Strathairn stranded on a remote island, something happened. Unfortunately the second half in the wild, is tedious and boring. I recommend fast forwarding every time the daughter picks up the diary. All the fine acting, and beautiful scenery, cannot hide the fact that this movie is way too long for such slight material, and the conjectural ending is totally unacceptable. - MERK

I was going to finish my summary thought but I thought I'd be more like this movie.Why were we introduced so so many characters only to have them left as incomplete parts? I'm no stranger to bleak story lines, and a little imagination is good for a movie, but why the hell are we watching a movie if we have to imagine more than 50% of the plot? The characters were interesting but the second half of the movie never needed to happen. They could have continued with the characters that were starting to show development, instead, someone felt that developing characters, and giving them actual story arcs was a bad idea. They decided to do the right thing and sacrifice any hopes of a decent drama for some misguided artistic vision.I'm only giving this movie 3 stars because the partially developed characters held my interest while they existed.

This beautifully filmed and highly intelligent movie is essentially a soap opera about a small-time nightclub singer in Alaska and her adolescent daughter. The latter is perpetually upset by the former's continuous succession of boy friends, forcing the daughter to move each year and feel a loneliness that is eating her up. The plot, in short, resembles that of Neal Simon's The Goodbye Girl.Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is superb as the singer, and David Strathairn is a fine lead male character. More than halfway through the film, the plot takes a strong turn, and the lives of the three major characters are placed in jeopardy. Incredibly, the film ends without resolving the issue. We do not know if these interesting people we've learned to know for the past couple of hours are murdered or rescued. In a theater, I would have booed and thrown things at the screen. (Well, at least when I was younger and dumber.) Along the way, we receive some liberal propaganda about the commercial uses of Alaska. And there are some fine shots of the landscape and seascape. But don't expect to learn much about the state, for this is a fascinating melodrama that could have been filmed anywhere. What a shame that John Sayles copped out at the end, leaving many viewers frustrated and angry.

In a small port town in Alaska, a man grief-stricken from a boating accident in his youth befriends an itinerant singer and her introverted daughter. After being attacked on a sailing trip, they are marooned on a small deserted island and must fend for themselves.A typically observant, well-written, intriguing and thoughtful drama from editor-writer-director Sayles, where even the minor characters are witty and interesting. As with all of Sayles' work, his smooth, relaxed style seems to bring out the very best in his actors and make the story all the more poignant and touching - his technique is almost invisible. The cast are great, with Strathairn giving another of his intense, quiet character studies in his seventh film for Sayles, but the real find is Martinez, who is terrific as the sweet-natured girl Noelle, tired of her mother's vagrancy and succession of boyfriends. Sayles also picks wonderful locations for his stories, and the Alaskan backdrops and fishing communities here are beautiful and evocative (although since I spent my honeymoon in the winter in British Columbia, I'm kinda biased in that regard). Beautifully photographed in Juneau and the North Pacific by Haskell Wexler.