“I have been known to redistribute wealth.”
Armed with a brief note and a newspaper clipping informing him about his daughter’s seemingly accidental death, career criminal, Wilson (Terence Stamp) flies from London to Los Angeles to discover the truth. Wilson has had scanty contact with his daughter, Jenny, thanks to frequent jail sentences, so he operates from a degree of guilt mingled with a violent ability to make people see things his way. Wilson contacts his daughter’s friend, Eduardo (Luis Guzman), and he discovers that Jenny’s boyfriend, Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda) is mixed up with some very shady people. Operating on the theory that you shake the tree and see what falls out, Wilson contacts Valentine’s business acquaintances. It becomes immediately very clear that Jenny’s death was hardly an accident, and Wilson sets out to even the score.
The Limey is an excellent, quality entry in the British gangster genre. It’s a stylish film and uses flashback sequences to enter Wilson’s mind, but at the same time, the film is not spoiled by an over-reliance on style. There is still a nice, tight plot here–with very few deviations. Terence Stamp is great as the Cockney British gangster who remains silent most of the time, and when he does open his mouth, no one understands him. He is the complete opposite of Valentine (Peter Fonda). It’s impossible not to compare the two men as they are about the same age. Valentine seems like a powder puff next to the vengeful Wilson. Wilson’s quirky character is revealed a little more every time he opens his mouth, and through flashback sequences, we are privvy to the past that still haunts Wilson. Some of the flashbacks, however, appear to be how Wilson would prefer to remember the past–and these memories include casting himself in a slightly better light as a father. Wilson’s extensions of the truth parallel Valentine’s version of his fanciful life in the 60s.
If you enjoy The Limey then I also recommend The Hit directed by Stephen Frears. This film is a British gangster film also starring the highly talented Terence Stamp
