Taglines: Tell him I’m comingl
The Limey movie storyline. An ex-con, fresh out of prison, goes to L.A. to try to learn who murdered his daughter. However, he quickly finds that he is completely out of place with no understanding of the culture he finds. His investigations are helped by another ex-con. Together they learn that his daughter had been having an affair with a record producer, who is presently having an affair with another young woman. An aging actress, who also knew his daughter, forces him to look at his own failures as a father. The movie does focus on the drama of the situation and the inter-relationships of the characters and seldom slips into an action piece.
The Limey is a 1999 American crime film, directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Lem Dobbs. The film features Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzmán, Barry Newman, and Peter Fonda. The plot concerns an English career criminal (Stamp) who travels to America to investigate the recent suspicious death of his daughter. It was filmed on location in Los Angeles and Big Sur. Critical reception was overwhelmingly positive, but the film was not a financial success upon its original release.
About the Production
Steven Soderbergh uses atypical flashback sequences, and includes several scenes (largely without dialogue) from a much older Terence Stamp movie, Ken Loach’s 1967 directorial debut Poor Cow. Soderbergh uses the scenes to create a hazy back story to show Stamp’s character as a young man, his criminal past, his relationship with Jenny’s mother and childish Jenny’s disapproving attitudes towards his crooked lifestyle. Wilson often speaks in a Cockney rhyming slang. The title refers to the American slang Limey, which refers to Britons.[
In a scene later in the film, Fonda’s character is watching TV, and footage from Access Hollywood is shown—a clip of George Clooney discussing his first visit to Italy. Soderbergh made the film Out of Sight with Clooney the previous year.
Film editor Sarah Flack utilizes a variety of unorthodox editing techniques in The Limey. The film frequently features dialogue and background sound from previous or future scenes juxtaposed with a current scene. Dialogue from one conversation, for instance, may find itself dispersed throughout the film, articulated for the first time long after its chronological moment has passed, as a sort of narrative flashback superimposed over later conversation, to complete a character’s thought or punctuate a character’s emphasis. Background sound may be disjointed in the film and shifted to enhance another scene by suggesting continuation, similarity, or dissimilarity, For example, Wilson is in a hotel room, and turns on the shower, and then Wilson is in a plane looking out the window, while the shower can be heard.
The Limey (1999)
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzmán, Barry Newman, Peter Fonda, Nicky Katt, Amelia Heinle, Melissa George, William Lucking, Nancy Lenehan
Screenplay by: Lem Dobbs
Production Design by: Gary Frutkoff
Cinematography by: Edward Lachman
Film Editing by: Sarah Flack
Costume Design by: Louise Frogley
Set Decoration by: Kathryn Peters
Music by: Cliff Martinez
MPAA Rating: R for violence and language.
Distributed by: Artisan Entertainment
Release Date: October 8, 1999
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