The Limey Review by Gabe Toro

     Terence Stamp, looking refreshingly lean in his largest role in nearly decades, stars as ex-con Wilson, a savage criminal with a past that can be labeled as "more than checkered." Fresh out of prison, he leaves England and heads to California, where he mournfully investigates the unsolved murder of his beautiful daughter, Jennie.

     After some early inquiries, Wilson clearly establishes that the person responsible is record producer Terry Valentin (Peter Fonda), a snake in sexy clothes. It is not long before Wilson realizes whom he’s after, and Valentin’s shady goons soon draw a bead on the mysterious Brit poking around Valentin’s posh Beverly Hills estate.

     Stamp is magnetic in a true showcase role, and his every move warrants attention. The camera is in love with him here, and he acknowledges it with a furiously funny performance. Much like the film’s crime noir/sleaze motif, Wilson is still recovering to life on the other side of the bars, and he is clearly a relic in time, a memento from years’ past. His fractured and twisty speech patterns bewilder even his associates, particularly Eduardo (Luis Guzman), who comically furrows his brow whenever Wilson makes an odd reference.

     Peter Fonda is especially wonderful to watch here. In a deliciously slimy role, he plays Valentin as Satan on permanent vacation. When we first see him, he is sleazily flirting with a young ingé nue very much like the Jennie we see in flashbacks. He only becomes more suave, more debonair and ultimately, more pathetic. Also providing able support is character actor Nicky Katt as a quick-witted goon. Magnetically vicious and calculating, his Stacy has a few hilarious lines, especially in one of the film’s many goofball throwaway monologues when he riffs off a premise for his own television show, "Big Fat Guy."

     "The Limey" is nicely streamlined, not wasting any time in getting to the heart of the subject matter. There are many moments when the action slows down in order to provide the audience with small moments between the characters, but the scene transitions are replaced by fractured time narrative that gives us a flash of the past or the present to exhibit where Wilson has been in life and where he is going. For this, "The Limey" is not just an economical use of time, but an enthrallingly pulpy crime thriller.

Review by: Gabe Toro