The Limey (1999)

5 out of 6 people found the following review helpful:

The idea was good...

A Customer from London, England, 13th August, 2004

but the execution is painful to watch: all that talent and money going to waste.

Terrible acting by Terence Stamp: his accent may convince a Californian but to a Londoner it sounds like a lovey trying to play the hard man. You'll want to laugh but will be too uninterested to bother.

The bad acting is matched by the self-conscious and pretentious approach taken by the director which just further hinders the viewer from engaging with the story and the main character.

Avoid.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Awful !

Bigboywally from from Lincoln, 30th September, 2007

I'm sure a film that Soderbergh would love to remove from his CV. Being a fan of his films I decided to rent 'The Limey', but it's far removed from the quality of his usual work. It has the common trade marks of Soderbergh films - voice over's, enhanced color, George Clooney, flash back's and flash forwards, but that's where it stops. The film has no plot and is obviously heading in one direction right from the very begining. Soderbergh has added a couple of comical scenes at various points during the film but I just found them embarrassing. Even Terence Stamp was a disappointment. Don't bother. There are lots of good films out there.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

BLIMEY!

crackedActa from from Newton Abbot, Devon, 15th January, 2008

Not at all one of Steven Soderbergh 's best. No where near. Some amazing photography, great locations but there the 'story ends'... Stamp is - or has been - a great actor. In this he is awful. He really LOOKS the part, however he is totally unconvincing, stuck in a mainly one-dimensional character that he is vainly attempting to make 2D. The flash backs and cross cutting are at first intreguing and amusing, but get annoying very quickly. I, in no way feel that movies should be linear in their plotting, but this was distracting and hindered the storytelling. Avoid.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Tell them he's coming!

NankerPhelge from from High Holborn, 17th January, 2005

The Limey covers similar ground to 'Get Carter' and 'Point Blank' in depicting a career criminal moving like a force of nature through a world that he hasn’t kept up with and won’t try to understand.

Terence Stamp is magnificent as Wilson, the aforementioned cockney crook driven by regret, revenge and the despair of not knowing what really happened to his recently dead daughter. Edited in a way that resembles a jumbled memory, the film’s narrative bounces around offering up snap shots of each character and adding depth to them in doing so. The film never discloses whether it is a flashback, flash forward or even fantasy, but with a tight script that elevates this film beyond simply looking great and superb performances from Stamp, Peter Fonda and a brilliant Luis Guzman, it matters not.

The cockney dialogue is a bit dubious, but Stamp delivers it with an intensity that elevates it beyond corny. A fantastic movie that sits alongside other lone gangster films with pride.

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the limey - well blimey

A Customer from Heywood, 19th August, 2008

I cannot say this was a film for me, perhaps I am not a real fan of Steven soderbergh. It was too jumpy, showing bits of the film to come and then things that had happened and then things that maybe thought would happen aaaaaargh - just run the film forward and it would have been much more entertaining. I like Terence Stamp as an actor but to me he just seems so dull and boring in this film the only light hearted acting came from Lesley Ann Warren (who never appears to age) and quite frankly you can forget Peter Fonda for his part. I know each director puts their spin on films but this one is definitely not for me, I like the big action and story unfolding kind of films.

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don't watch if you're english

A Customer from London, 5th August, 2008

Terence Stamp's absurd cockney rhyme will ruin this film for you if you happen to know what a real Londoner sounds like. Soderbergh should have retired.

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Customer Review

A Customer from UK, 23rd June, 2008

It wins on all aspects:- scripting, plotting, characterization, directing, and acting. The dialogue and characterization are especially good, and Terence Stamp's acting is first class. The denouement is pleasantly surprising and satisfying. Five stars!

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