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The Limey (1999)

Rate: 10
Viewed: 1/03, 6/03, 5/05, 10/10, 3/16

Limey
5/05: The Limey is both style over substance and substance over style.

Terence Stamp is brilliant as Wilson. What a strong supporting cast: Peter Fonda, Luis Guzmán, Lesley Ann Warren, Nicky Katt, Bill Duke, Joe Dallesandro, Barry Newman, and Amelia Heinle. They are all outstanding. It's Steven Soderbergh's unique cinematic style that grabs me. I haven't seen a story that's nonlinearly told this well since Pulp Fiction, thanks to Sarah Flack's editing job.

All in all, The Limey is an all-time great neo-noir picture.

10/10: Most films will tell a story in a linear fashion which goes from point A to B before coming to a predictable ending.

In The Limey, it's anything but. The editing is unorthodox and thus innovative. Although it's disjointedly told, the story is pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle. All over the film is a distinctive style that gives it a lasting neo-noir stamp. Terence Stamp is perfect. So is everybody else.

All in all, The Limey is a neo-noir masterpiece.

3/16: The Limey is a fine neo-noir thriller.

It's both style over substance and substance over style. That's why I consider Steven Soderbergh one of the most skilled filmmakers. It's too bad that he sold himself out to do mainstream cinema. Had Steven Soderbergh stayed true, he would've done more interesting films.

The first aspect that stands out the most is Sarah Flack's editing job. She should've been at least nominated for an Oscar. It's not often that a story is told so well; the style is unorthodox, reminding me of Jean-Luc Godard's famous jump cuts in À bout de souffle.

Brilliantly done is the inclusion of Poor Cow footage with Terence Stamp from 1967. Having Peter Fonda on board is genius because of his Easy Rider connection. I also love the cast of Luis Guzmán, Lesley Ann Warren, Nicky Katt, Bill Duke, Joe Dallesandro (who's a forgotten icon of Andy Warhol's era), Barry Newman of Vanishing Point fame, and Amelia Heinle. They are perfect and know there's an art to the characters they play.

All in all, I'll never get tired of watching The Limey over and over.