Film Review: THE LIMEY (1999)

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writers: Lem Dobbs
Running time: 89 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Crime/Drama/Mystery
UK Release date: 10^th December 1999

Watched on Terrestrial PVR Monday 22^nd July 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is one of those films I’ve had in the back of my mind for a long time. I have a recollection that it caused a bit of a stir on release and so made a mental note to take a look sometime. A short fourteen years later and I finally got to see it after one of those nice film TV channels aired it. Worth the wait? Well, maybe not fourteen years, but still, a worthy watch. I’ll tell you more after this very brief summary.

Having recently been let out of prison, Wilson (Terence Stamp) is sent a newspaper clipping about the death of his daughter. He decides it merits further investigation and goes to LA. Here he meets the man who sent him the article, Eduardo Roel (Luis Guzmán). They soon link her death to the man she had been seeing, one Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda); a music producer. Wilson pays him a visit, having obtained his address from some of his associates. Valentine’s head of security, Jim Avery (Barry Newman), susses Wilson out and sends some hit men after him. Meanwhile, Valentine heads for his beach house up the coast. Wilson had befriended his daughters’ acting coach, Elaine (Lesley Ann Warren) and she also finds herself in danger. Can he neutralise the threat and find peace before it’s too late?

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: RECOMMENDED

My score: 7.5/10.

IMDb Score: 7.0/10 (based on 19,457 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165854/

MetaScore: 73/100: (Based on 32 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 93/100 (based on 80 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 75/100 (based on 10,755 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/limey/

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LINKS:
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Trailer: