User Reviews

The `revenge story' is a pretty overdone plot device, so when a film comes along that employs this theme and still remains fresh and compelling, it is safe to say that is a truly good film. Steven Soderbergh's `The Limey' is able to do just that. In `The Limey', Terrence Stamp plays Wilson, a career criminal who, upon being released from prison in England, finds out that his estranged daughter has died (or perhaps been murdered) in Los Angeles. Wilson's mission is to find out what happened to her, and prescribe his own brand of justice on the man behind her death.

Soderbergh's direction in `The Limey' is superb. While I enjoy and admire most of his filmography, I was so enamored with his second film, the barely-seen, highly acclaimed `Kafka' for its originality, its daring style and intellectual feel, that films like `Oceans Eleven' and `Erin Brockovich', while quite good, didn't reflect what I felt was to be his true maverick style. Seeing `The Limey', made before `Erin Brockovich' and shortly a couple of years after `Kafka', I was happy to see that he kind of held on to that spirit (for lack of a better expression) for one more film before producing more commercial fare. `The Limey' is told in a very non-linear style, and not even as clearly delineated as say, `Pulp Fiction' was; rather it is flashbacks and real-time events expressed by fluttering scenes and an almost wispy presentation. Soderbergh also employs scenes from one of Terrence Stamp's films from the 1960's for some flashbacks, a thoroughly brilliant and creative tactic.

Terrence Stamp certainly deserves mention for his performance as Wilson. Whether seeing him as General Zod in `Superman II' or as the drag queen Bernadette in `The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert' he is a true badass. Watching him chase after Peter Fonda in `The Limey' was like watching a reincarnation of Yul Brunner in `Westworld'; he just never let up. Anyone who would get in his way were pretty much toast, but it was all so coldly done that it was almost clinical – just by the hard and distant expression on Wilson's face you know that all of these people were incidental and he wouldn't receive any pleasure until he comes face to face with his nemesis; and even then, it's possibly more of a duty than a pleasure.

Check out this film – you won't regret it. However, if you're expecting a film with the same kind of commercial tone as say, `Oceans Eleven' you may be in for a surprise, albeit, in this viewer's opinion, a pleasant one.

--Shelly

I always thought the Russian Montage Theory was too outdated for modern cinema, but Steven Soderbergh had other ideas. The Limey had one of the more interesting editing styles I have ever seen, which is why it probably threw so many people in a loop. Its too bad we will never see another film like this from Soderbergh, considering he's probably going to keep making films like Oceans 11. Terence Stamp was especially good in this film, and Luis Guzman provided one of the best screen roles by a Mexican-American. What I especially enjoyed about this movie wasn't just the unique editing style, it was how it affected the emotional standpoint within the movie. You felt distanced, unsure how to look at this film due to the range of images passing before your eye. One of the more unappreciated films of 1999, especially when one looks at the amazing body of work which came out that year.

I first watched this film when it came out, 1999, and did not find it particularly memorable, apart from Stamp's steely performance, Fonda's sleazy character, and the film's conclusion.

I watched it again on 12 January 2018 and I have to own up to the fact that I must have been less than attentive when I first watched it. This time, I found the acting excellent across the board, the script far more interesting than I remembered, photography highly effective and economical, action sequences quite riveting, and director Steven Soderbergh to be in inspired form, even in his judicious use of flashbacks.

Do not take me wrong, THE LIMEY is not a masterpiece - and never purports to be anything even close. It is just a film well aware of its limitations, and highly credible because of that.

For modern-day revenge movie, this is unusually low-key and pretty good. It's nothing super but it sneaks up on you. It might bore you, but it might not:. It's really hard to say.

If you enjoy a character study by an interesting actor (Terrence Stamp) you might like this. But, beware, it has its slow moments. What it is, is simply another revenge tale, so often told but so often fun to watch. This one is about a British criminal (Stamp) getting out of jail, finding out that something bad had happened to his daughter in Los Angeles, and going for the man (Peter Fonda) he feels is responsible for that.

There is a bit too much flashback in here, so you have to be prepared to put up with that. Of note, the filmmakers used actual film footage from a 1967 film of Stamp to show him in his younger days.

What I did really enjoy was Stamp's vocabulary and the interesting looks on his face. The supporting cast also adds nicely to this story, particularly Barry Newman, who plays Fonda's bodyguard. There isn't a lot of action in here but when it does occur, it's pretty intense.

Soderbergh is a really odd director. His movies have run the gamut from the wacky, self indulgent surrealism of 'Schizopolis' to the pandering, sell-out mediocrity of 'Ellen Brockovich'. He's really hard to get a handle on. 'Out Of Sight' was stylish with an outstanding cast but left me cold. 'Traffic' featured a handful of great performances, most notably Benicio Del Toro's, but was overall simplistic, unconvincing and cliched. For my money his strongest achievements to date have been his overlooked noir-ish 'Underneath', and this, his involving revenge drama 'The Limey'.

Terrence Stamp, a fine actor who has appeared in more than his fair share of bad movies, really takes this role and runs with it. He radiates dignity and power as Wilson, the English career criminal out to avenge the death of his estranged daughter. My only problem with his performance, and the movie as a whole, is his Cockney accent, which borders on caricature. If you can get over that hurdle you'll be impressed by the depth of his performance.

Peter Fonda, who has never impressed me much as an actor in the past (not even his much lauded role in the overrated 'Ulee's Gold'), is also fine as the sleazy record producer who Wilson suspects of wrongdoing. Stamp and Fonda obviously relish playing these characters, and their chemistry together is the cornerstone of the movie. Both actors are supported by an impressive array of old and new faces - including a surprisingly effective Lesley Anne Warren (her best since 'Cop'), the always watchable Luis Guzman ('Boogie Nights', 'Carlito's Way', etc.), blasts from the pasts Barry Newman (cult classic 'Vanishing Point') and Joe Dallessandro (former Warhol superstar), and future star in the making Nicky Katt ('Strange Days', 'SubUrbia').

Soderbergh cleverly uses footage from Ken Loach's kitchen sink drama 'Poor Cow' for flashbacks, and plays upon Stamp and Fonda's 60s screen personas, but the film is no exercise in mere nostalgia. 'The Limey' is a rarity in Hollywood these days - an intelligent, thoughtful, well crafted and acted adult movie. I liked it a lot.

Somewhere between Out of Sight and the hype of the Erin Brockovich/Traffic double-punch, Soderbergh made this diamond of a film. Terence Stamp is the gem at the centre of it, his beautiful face, always a cinematic treasure, a virtual masterclass in film acting. How this performance went ignored is beyond me but maybe that punishment is fitting for the career criminal he plays.

He is Wilson who after finishing a nine-year sentence "at her Majesty's leisure" goes to L.A. to discover how his daugher, Jenny, met her end while he was in the big house and to avenge her death. Peter Fonda plays her former lover, a wicked, soulless record producer who was big in the sixties and both actors trade on the ghosts of their cinematic pasts to striking effect; particularly Stamp, as footage from his 1967 film, Poor Cow (directed by Ken Loach), is repurposed and edited into the film's ever-shifting timescape. (It is a credit to Soderbergh that he would dare to use another filmmaker's footage and make it so central to his own, even using Loach's footage for his closing shots. In Soderbergh's hands it shows that he is first and foremost a storyteller instead of a shallow egotist and it plays like a grand, cinematic homage to his star.)

Soderbergh shuffles time and Wilson's life like a deck of cards yet always keeps the story moving forward--the editing by Sarah Flak is a marvel. It's a lovely, startling effect; rather than weigh the narrative down with a number of plodding, onerous details, this style keeps the thing as light as a souffle yet full of implications as we imagine the ways and necessities of Wilson telling and retelling, hashing over his life, representing and misrepresenting his actions or inaction. These are the lies he tells himself, the truth he can live with. It's completely engaging and frees the viewer to imagine the surrounding details and circumstances however they like. He certainly couldn't have done it with anyone but Stamp, who is solid throughout; his stillness and his beautiful blue, crystalline eyes like placid pools of water that mask a depth of feeling and a lifetime of regret. That we empathise with an ignoble savage like Wilson at all is purely down to Stamp's controlled, unsentimental performance. Stamp's Wilson doesn't make apologies. Terence Stamp is iconic precisely because of the films he chose to make, particularly after Schlesinger's Far From The Madding Crowd when he could've done anything but went to work with Loach, Pasolini and Fellini instead. Like his co-star Fonda, who also spent many years in the wilderness, Stamp's performance in The Limey stands as a long-promised return to form, which he'd been hinting at for years.

There's great support from Luis Guzman, Lesley Ann Warren (as an L.A. acting coach, who suggests in her few short scenes with Stamp a potentially epic romance), Barry Newman as Fonda's henchman and the startlingly fresh Amelia Henle who shows that, yes, there is an art to playing "the girlfriend." (Joe Dallesandro is in there somewhere as well in some capacity but is completely unrecognisable.) If the slight bit in the middle lacks the polish of the beginning and the end (it appears a large subplot about two hitmen must've been jettisoned in the editing room), the dialogue still crackles throughout, with Stamp--as a one-man amalgam of London's east end--throwing off Cockney rhyming slang ("China" "plates" thus "mates") and reminding us of what made London swing in the '60's. Very stylish, Soderbergh's control of the emotional depth of the story is impressive, as is the acting--as always in his films. Deserves a much wider audience.

Wilson (Terence Stamp) gets out of prison and goes to L.A. Eduardo Roel (Luis Guzmán) had sent him news that his daughter Jenny Wilson (Melissa George) is dead. His is convinced that her music producer boyfriend Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda) is responsible. Valentine was involved in a drug deal which he is now trying to hide and presently has a young girlfriend Adhara (Amelia Heinle). Elaine (Lesley Ann Warren) was once a famous actress and a mentor to Jenny. Valentine's right hand man Jim Avery (Barry Newman) hires Stacy (Nicky Katt) to kill Wilson.

Soderbergh is trying his disjointed editing style and a bit of shaky camera work. The style is really fascinating for awhile but it becomes more of a gimmick later on. It overwhelms anything happening in the story and takes away some of the tension. Even the dialog becomes secondary. I really like the use of the old movie but even that has diminishing returns. He's done this in the past like in 'Out of Sight' but it wasn't quite as pervasive. Terence Stamp has terrific menace. He's able to maintain the tension and there is a nice payoff at the end.

Low-key thriller/drama about an ex-con seeking revenge on the man that caused his daughters death. That's the surface of this very interesting and fascinating movie from director Soederbergh. There's more than meets the eye, and the patient viewer will be highly rewarded.

This is, in my point of view, a film about all our efforts to review our own lives - i.e. trying to make memories of our past fit in with the reality of today. To try to understand all sides of an event between two people; how actions we take, and decisions we make, makes a difference in the long run in our lives.

Wonderfully directed and edited, this movie is really alive, and shines with various tricks and treats of pure movie magic. The score is perfect, and the acting is great (Stamp in the lead is amazing). The way the film makers intertwine dialogue and voice over is fascinating, and reminds me of the films by French movie makers in the sixties (the French "New Wave").

Obviously not in everyone's taste since this movie is quite demanding in attention and pace, this is still one of the best films ever from director Soederbergh. Rating: 9/10.

In style, Steve Soderbergh's "The Limey" harks back to the days of freeform French, Italian and British filmmaking of the 1960's, utilizing many of the techniques that at the time were groundbreaking and innovative: the fragmentation of the time sequence, heavy reliance on jarring jumpcuts, the employment of near-subliminal quick cuts to indicate memory and anticipatory imaginings and a pronounced use of the handheld camera to generate a sense of pseudo-documentary realism. This throwback in style is more than appropriate because Soderbergh's film is drenched in a '60's sensibility, from the use of many of the stars of the period in both major and minor roles to the actual employment of scenes from 1967's "Poor Cow" to function as memories for the main character played by the star of both films, Terrance Stamp.

All the above elements make "The Limey" a quite unusual and, perhaps, even unique film of sorts. But I am afraid that this over reliance on technique does come with a price: the film, as a whole, becomes much more of an "exercise" than a fully engaging narrative, partly because the visual distractions keep distancing the audience from the story and characters that should be our focus. Stamp is brilliant as the British ex-con bent on avenging the death of his daughter in the alien world of Los Angeles - and, perhaps, the sense of dislocation caused by the obtrusive cinematic stylings is meant to reflect the similar state of Wilson's mind. That still doesn't excuse the surprising banality of much of the dialogue and the less-than-stellar performances from an otherwise noteworthy cast. Peter Fonda and Barry Newman both miss the mark in their roles as a successful record producer and his loyal bodyguard. Neither their performances nor their dialogue ring true.

"The Limey" seems to have more on its mind than just being a conventional crime revenge melodrama. Yet, do we really know much more about Wilson at the end of the film than at the beginning? Maybe it just becomes difficult to be greatly moved by a film that wants to be an elegy for a character we are given no real reason to admire. Thus, despite Stamp's marvelous performance and the impressive style of much of the film, "The Limey" doesn't add up to much in the long run.

Like its title and leading man (Terrance Stamp), "The Limey" surprises by what it is NOT. Stamp plays an aging hood, a "Limey," who has spent much of his life in prison. At first glance, Stamp appears a "loser," who is now throwing what remains of his life away on a questionable vendetta against an aging rock producer (Peter Fonda) who may or may not be responsible for the death of Stamp's daughter. However, director Steven Soderbergh ("Traffic," "Out of Sight," "Erin Brockavich"),skillfully intercuts scenes of past, present and future, nonsync dialogue, music, peripheral action and plotting to create an efficient, consistently surprising and highly effective movie. Just as the film is about to become routine and predictable, new key characters and plot information is revealed. To Soderbergh's credit, this never seems forced or contrived. Alas, Soderbergh's style tends to undercut the effectiveness of Leslie's Warren's role, and the climactic shoot out is disappointingly pat. Nevertheless,the payoff is terrific. Special note should be made of the performances of Luis Guizman, Barry Newman and, especially, Nicky Katt ("Boston Public").

Don't let the title fool you, "The Limey" is one terrific movie and Soderbergh, for once, deserves all the praise he can get.

This is no lime! I mean lie! Director Steven Soderbergh's "The Limey" is one of the most beautifully photographed films I have ever seen. The film stars Terence Stamp who once again readily delivers a terrific performance. The film is about an aging ex-con who tries to avenge the killers who murdered his daughter. Oh blimey! I mean limey! I almost forgot! Peter Fonda executes a very subtle but assenting performance as the mischievous paranoid record executive. However, it is Director's Steven Soderbergh direction that makes this film sweet as lime. Colors reflecting moods, overlapping dialogue intersecting between different scenes, and character thought-provoking facial gestures are all Soderbergh traits that are once again perfected to make every scene work. If you don't believe me, go watch "The Limey" and then you will now that I am not lying. **** Good

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.

Wilson is released from prison in England and travels to LA to look into the death of his daughter. He joins up with Ed and begins to put pressure on record producer Valentine who he believes is mixed up in the death. Valentine is also mixed up with drug dealers and increases his security around his home.

This film is all Steven Sodenberg. From the very start it is very heavily stylised in terms of direction and editing. The film constantly jump cuts to later scenes and earlier scenes relating to what is happening in the main scene. This lends a lot of doubt as to what actually happened with Wilson's daughter until the end, but it also serves to make the audience think the film is cleverer than it is. The cutting gives the impression of a film that is multilayered and complicated but really it's not as deep as it wants to be. The plot is simple and quite linear although the characters are quite developed and interesting.

The only problem with the direction is that it seems to be referencing Reservoir Dogs at 2 points. At one point the music is the same as RD's and another scene sees Wilson walk in slow motion alongside a red brick wall (a la the opening credits). It's hard to believe Sodenberg didn't know that the latter scene was so similar and it's not clear why he did it. The comparisons with the Tarantino movie can also be seen in the dialogue - many of the characters chat about nothing in particular in the same way that those in RD and Pulp Fiction do. However these are very minor complaints and can be easily ignored with all the crosscutting back and forward in time. One very good touch is the use of extracts from the film "Poor Cow" which are used to show Stamp's memories of years gone.

Wilson is played by Terrance Stamp and he perhaps makes him too Cockney for his own good - at first this grates because he sounds a little like Dick Van Dyke. However after 5 minutes you get used to his accent and it seems natural. Peter Fonda is good as the businessman sucked in to a violent world of his own creating. He balances his laid back nature with the more hunted side of his character well. Support is good from Lesley Ann Warren and the excellent Barry Newman, as always Luis Guzman is fantastic in a supporting role - he's not a leading man but he constantly turns in understated performances.

Overall the film is interesting and quite exciting. The conclusion is not as satisfying as it could have been but is quite touching. However the clever editing does not make a clever film and the film is not as deep as it thinks it is.

A thrilling and suspenseful movie about a thief ex-convict called Wilosn (Terence Stamp) who sets out to find the man he considers responsible for his daughter's death. However , he quickly finds that he is completely out of place with no understanding of the culture he finds . Wilson is a Cockney career criminal who gets out a Brit prison and immediately flies to L. A. and in his investigations is helped by another ex-con (Luis Guzman) . Together they learn that his daughter (Melissa George) had been having an affair with a record producer (Peter Fonda) , who is presently in love with another young woman (Amelia Henlie) . Investigations lead him to surprise the locals not only with his rhyming slang , but with his hard-man resilience , witty and ingenuity . Moreover , an aging actress (Lesley Ann Warren) helps him , as well. Vengeance knows no boundaries !. Tell Him I'm coming !.

There's so much going for this movie with vastly separate lives of two veteran outlaw men : ageing Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda , colliding in an interweaving story of killings , revenge , violence and redemption , being well written by screenwriter Lem Dobbs . Stirring , fun and as effortlessly assured , in its own relativity short budget way , as ¨out of Sight¨, this consistly attractive, imaginatively comic film milks the fish-out-water formula for all it is worthwhile , and anything else . Adding colorful images and enjoyable soundtrack by Cliff Martinez that are perfectly in keeping with the light , relaxed mood . The performances are all terrific , while director Soderbergh seemingly effortless mastery of his medium goes from strength to strength , while stories cross and collide . Sixties icons Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda show that age has not whitered their performance chops in this vengeance thriller in which an extremely volatile ex-convict investigates the death of his daughter learning she was involved with self-important record producer . Soderbergh's flashblack sequences make use of footage Ken Loach's 1967 movie ¨Poor Cow¨ which featured Stamp as a young thief named Wilson along with Carol White . Main cast is frankly well and it's given sterling support cast . Terence Stamp gives a nice acting as an ex-con , fresh out of prison , goes to L. A. to try to learn who murdered his daughter . While Peter Fonda is fine as a mobster who has an obvious fondness for young girls . They're well accompanied by good secondaries with plenty of familiar faces , such as : Lesley Ann Warren , Luis Guzmán , Barry Newman , Joe Dallesandro , Nicky Katt , Amelia Heinle , Melissa George , William Lucking , among others.

The picture was well photographed by cameraman Edward Lachman and competently directed by Steven Soderbergh , the result is a strong entry for thriller buffs . Soderbergh's customary playfulness with the narrative deftly underlines his ordinary trademarks. Soderbergh made such films as Kafka (1991), King of the Hill (1993), The Underneath (1995) and Gray's Anatomy (1996), which many believed to be disappointments. In 1998, Soderbergh made Out of sight (1998) , his most critically and commercially successful film since Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989). Then, in 2000, Soderbergh directed two major motion pictures that are now his most successful films to date : Erin Brockovich (2000) and Traffic (2000). These films were both nominated for Best Picture Oscars at the 2001 Academy Awards and gave him the first twin director Oscar nomination in almost 60 years and the first ever win. He won the Oscar for Best Director for Traffic (2000) at the 2001 Oscars . Rating : 6.5/10 . Notable , better than average , well worth watching.

Sodemberg in good form, while Mr. Stamp hams it up as your Stepney old china gangster giving a performance which is both deceptively simple and sophisticated with a hint of method thrown in for good measure. Peter Fonda, as the suave record producer Terry Valentine, is the perfect impersonation of a hippie growing old disgracefully and on Big Sur backdrop, reminds me of one of the Beach Boys (Brian Wilson possibly...who probably was a good mate of his in the good old days anyway) "the 60s were just like a dream with its own language and locations which didn't really exist, and then you woke up... not just the 60s really, just 66 and a little bit of 67.." showing off to his new starlet girlfriend... There is a rather moving moment toward the end of the film which brings to the fore the essential human frailty, how underneath the mask of our 'adult' certainties there is often a confused little child... And finally, if you like thrillers like myself, this movie is that rare thing, an intelligent sophisticated one, which keeps you on the edge of your seat for a couple of hours, without feeling, like unfortunately happens with a lot of similar productions, that when the credits start to roll, you have been through 120 minutes of disposable entertainment... HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Following the death of his daughter, Englishman Wilson heads to Los Angeles. He is convinced that she didn't die in a car crash, as had been suggested, but was in fact murdered. Wilson has spent his life in and out of jail so intends to discover what happened and take revenge his own way. Everything points to her boyfriend, wealthy record producer Terry Valentine, who had got involved in some shady business. Wilson's search for the truth will put him in the path of several dangerous people but he has one advantage; few LA low-lives are going to suspect an aging Englishman could be any danger to them.

If you enjoy revenge thrillers this is definitely worth watching. The action may seem a little slow at times but for me that just allowed the tension to rise. Terrence Stamp is great as Wilson; he brings an intensity to the role that makes the character feel like a cobra ready to strike. Peter Fonda is solid as Valentine and there is also solid support from Luis Guzmán and Lesley Ann Warren, as friends of Jenny who help her father, and Barry Newman as Valentine's head of security. I liked how footage from the '60s film 'Poor Cow', starring a younger Stamp, was incorporated to give flashbacks to his earlier life and Jenny's childhood. There isn't a huge amount of action but what there is, is suitably intense. A modicum of humour is provided by Wilson's regular use of Cockney rhyming slang which isn't understood by the Americans he talks to... this may seem funnier to British viewers who don't need to wait for him to explain what he said. The film looks great with fine editing and impressive views of the Californian coast. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to fans of the genre.

When I see Londoners portrayed in Hollywood I almost want to apologise . Being a Londoner myself I cringe when characters speak to Americans in the local London dialect . It's wouldn't happen and we don't all speak like that anyway!

Terrance Stamp plays one of those extremely volatile and dangerous Cockneys who goes to Los Angeles to find the man he considers responsible for for his daughter's death .

Despite the over exaggerating accent I really liked this . Stamp's character is certainly unhinged and you definitely feel he has nothing to lose . He's out for revenge and nothing is going to stop him

I love the way we see flashbacks to when he was a young man . The flashbacks are taken from Ken Loach's first ever film - Poor Cow and because it's actually stamp as a man in his twenties, it's about as genuine as you are ever going to get .

This is one of Steven Soderbergh's lesser known films and while it's not perfect , it certainly doesn't look out of place with his back catalogue.

The very stylish and simple "The Limey" has me quite baffled. After digesting this movie for a while, I am still not quite sure what to make of it and more importantly, what exactly is it about. On the surface "The Limey" seems like a straightforward geriatric "Deathwish" with its theme of revenge. Go deeper and it is more a character study of a man who has devoted his entire being to a "life of crime" and dealing with a culture that he is not entirely familiar with. Look sideways and it deals with hard core men who are over-the-hill attempting to hang on to their lost youth and vitality by being tough (even though their bodies can't quite cut it anymore), wearing expensive designer suits with tinted glasses and having very young beautiful women by their side. Whatever the case may be director Steven Soderbergh, of the very sexy and stylish but much more superior "Out of Sight" with George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, knows who to handle the crime drama/thriller with panache and style like no one else.

Dave Wilson (the very good Terrence Stamp), a smart, intense criminal just released from prison heads to LA from London to look into the somewhat mysterious death of his daughter, who he barely knew. He believes she died at the hands of her boyfriend, legendary and majorly rich record producer Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda) and will not stop until he tracks him down for answers.

The plot here of avenging father seems pretty much lame and not that interesting or complicated at all, but maybe that is the point, not everything in life is extraordinary, in fact much of life is standard, simple and uneventful. But the plot does not so much drive this movie as do the characters. In a world of 16-year-old superstar models, actors and singers, it is totally refreshing to see a movie where the majority of characters are over 40, many over the sixty mark. Even the hitmen of this movie are past their prime. These criminal characters are not your typical stock characters of most crime films, some are regular Joes who happen to have chosen crime as their career aspirations and deal with the same problems as the typical 9 to 5 office worker. As the one hitman hired by Valentine's head security Avery (Barry Newman) says, "I embrace my lifestyle".

While the acting is top notch, especially Stamp, Fonda and Newman, the real star of the film is director, Soderbergh and especially cinematographer Ed Lachman. Soderbergh cuts so many different scenes back and forth with a flair that I have not experienced yet as with a character speaking in one scene and finishing the sentence in another. His use of flashbacks of a young Terrence Stamp incorporating Stamp's 1967 film, "Poor Cow", are not only genius but a great homage to the actor. Also when we first meet the Fonda character, the background music has lyrics that include "easy rider is a curse". Just great. He also seems to get amazing performances from his actors as he did with Clooney and Lopez in last years "Out of Sight". Fonda still riding high from 1997's "Ulee's Gold" does well with the character of Valentine, showing a very vulnerable, insecure and weak man who hides behind wealth and power. Stamp delivers an intense and powerful, yet totally focused, subtle and real performance that is very rare in this film genre. It is a memorable performance and character. Cinematographer, Lachman, does an amazing job with shots that are standard fare, but gives them a different angel that make them stand out such as a scene where Wilson tosses one of Valentine's body guards over a balcony into the canyon below. Your typical cinematographer would have focused on this. Instead Lachman has this scene in the far background while the main shot is of Valentine having a good time at his party feeling totally safe and relaxed in his multi-million dollar home.

So the bottom-line, is "The Limey" a great film, I don't think so. Did I love it, not really. Was I bored with it, no quite. I guess it captured my interest in a different and quiet way that most films don't and for that I recommend it. Also when was the last time you saw 70's semi-icons, Barry Newman (TV's 1974 Petrocelli), Leslie Ann Warren and once hunky Andy Warhol mainstay, Joe Dallesandro. Recommended.

How to describe how bad this movie really is? It has a few good suspense scenes, but it's all obviated by poor directing that carries the actors over the edge into the ridiculous in their characterizations, which emerge as stereotypes. Weak plot about revenge and a faded hippy record producer (Fonda). Soderberg should give up while he's got some people convinced he's a good director. They might see this movie!

I'm getting to the point now where I'm distrusting the ratings on this site because so many movies with above 7 ratings turn out to be boring pretentious tripe.

Honestly, there was nothing in this movie that redeemed it. The acting was almost non-existent, the editing was clumsy and bizarre (possibly in some mis-guided attempt to appear "artsy") and the plot..... well there really wasn't one. There was certainly no action, no suspense, no thrills, no warmth, no likable characters, no intrigue, no message, no interesting dialogue, no gripping relationships or drama .... just a lot of repetition of boring scenes (for what purpose is beyond me), blank stares for long periods of time (possibly an attempt to build drama but all it did was build frustration with how awful the film was) and lots of pointless badly written wooden conversation between characters.

I got just over half way through and felt proud of myself for having suffered so long but at that point I started skipping bits of the film. I started carefully, only skipping small sections and soon realised I could easily jump several minutes at a time and miss nothing at all. Finally made a huge skip to the last 10 mins or so. YAY! I thought, a bit of action! Even tho I couldn't care less what happened to anyone. I was just hoping for relief to the tedious boredom. But my hope was short-lived and actually changed to anger because the ending made not one bit of sense in the context of the rest of the movie. It was lame and silly.

I fail to see how anyone can give this a score above 2. I might have to start watching movies rated below 5 and maybe I'll have better luck. So dear reviewers, slow, boring and badly written/acted/shot/edited/produced does NOT equal meaningful and artsy. It just equals a waste of everyone's time.

Conclusion: Don't' bother. Watch In Bruges instead. That's one of the few movies with a decent rating that actually deserves it.