10 Underrated Films From 1999

If you read the plot synopsis of The Limey, you would assume it’s your average revenge film about an ageing criminal investigating his daughter’s suspicious death. But leave it to Steven Soderbergh to take the conventional, tear it to pieces, stitch it back together, and breathe new life into it.

Aside from Terrence Stamp’s grizzled, layered performance, The Limey is most notable for its unconventional editing. Soderbergh and editor Sarah Flack cut the film to play with sense memory and what the past means to certain characters. Conversations play out across different locations and times and are frequently interrupted by quick edits and flashbacks.

This choice adds an avant-garde twist to this entertaining crime thriller and makes it easier to connect to the story’s emotional core. We feel the sense of lost time Stamp’s character feels regarding his daughter when we constantly see brief flashes of her.

While the editing adds an unconventional twist to this straightforward narrative, The Limey still serves as an entertaining crime thriller. Stamp’s indecipherable Cockney accent is at points both funny and menacing, and there are plenty of great low-key set-pieces like car chases, fistfights, and shootouts to keep the audience entertained.