Rent The Limey (1999)

Grizzled Cockney career criminal searches for the truth of his daughter's death - The Limey review by RP

It's not a gangster film, nor an action film, nor a revenge film. It covers a father's search for the truth of his daughter's death and is told in a sort of photo-montage, cut-up style, with abrupt time shifts, flashbacks and flash forwards, together with introspective moments.

Terence Stamp plays a grizzled Cockney career criminal who has spent much of his life in prison, thus losing touch with his daughter. He comes to LA to avenge her death but spends much of the time thinking about their limited time together and what might have been. The flashbacks to a happier time are well done, using clips from the Ken Loach film 'Poor Cow' which starred a young Terence Stamp and Carol White. 3/5 stars.

Clever and Nuanced Revenge Thriller - The Limey review by GI

This is a first class crime thriller with an interesting structure and a great central performance by Terence Stamp as Wilson, a hardened London career criminal who travels to Los Angeles to look into the circumstances of his daughter's death supposedly from a car accident. It's a tough, gritty film with bursts of violence, a creepy and cowardly villain played by Peter Fonda and his tough security chief played by Barry Newman. This is one of Steven Soderbergh's often forgotten films and underrated films especially considering his use of time swings to reveal his story through the eyes of Wilson which opens up interesting questions about the narrative. Stamp's character is much more nuanced than the over exaggerated cockney persona that dominates and gives the film some humour (his interaction with Bill Duke's DEA agent is really funny). But it's a much more complicated character here which Stamp cleverly reveals in small facial expressions and scenes where the camera lingers on him as a lonely figure highlighting a life of regrets and one reading could be a life he imagines rather than actually lives. However you analyse it this is a remarkable character study, with a slight but clash of culture theme that is not overdone. A film to check out and certainly if you weren't impressed the first time.