The Limey

Steven Soderbergh’s “The Limey” is an understated revenge thriller which uses John Boorman’s stylistically daring, “Point blank” (1967) as its template. Terence Stamp’s stoic crim, Wilson, shares similar traits to Lee Marvin’s character in “Point blank”, mainly an unflinching determination and a blood thirsty drive for revenge. Fresh from the UK, recent ex-con Wilson lands in the sun drenched opulence of Los Angeles, when he receives news that his estranged daughter, Jenny (Melissa George), has perished in a car accident. Wilson learns that his daughter was seeing a wealthy record producer called Valentine (Peter Fonda), whose shady connections to the L.A. underworld make him suspect that his daughter’s death was no accident. Soderbergh takes much pleasure in placing the thuggish ‘fish out of water’ Wilson in the middle of the trendy L.A. elite, while pitting two icons of the sixties, Stamp and Fonda against each other. The film’s themes of nostalgia and loss are cleverly realised in its complex editing structure which jumps back and forth through time, (this being “The Limey’s” most obvious nod to “Point blank”). Soderbergh however is also trading on a different kind of nostalgia by showcasing the acting talents of Terence Stamp, this loving homage accumulates in a scene from Ken Loach’s “Poor cow” (1968), (which starred a very young Stamp), a cherished film memory for Wilson and the audience alike. Cast includes: Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzman, Barry Newman, Joe Dallesandro.