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Hey folks, Harry here with a great report from Desslock on THE LIMEY and a film we haven't heard much about, but I have been hearing good buzz on it, and that is DETERRENCE. I've heard that it doesn't have a distributor yet, but from what I'm hearing it sounds like it should by the end of the week. Keep your fingers crossed, it sounds like a good one!

Desslock on the Toronto Film Festival

Hey Harry,

The Toronto Film Festival is getting a lot of good buzz this year. There's a strong selection of galas and special presentations, but the rest of the categories (contemporary world cinema, documentaries, specialty programs) seem a bit weaker than usual. Bah, I've seen some pretty strong films so far, primarily from the more "mainstream" selections at the festival -- I've saved the giant monster flicks for later in the week.

I'll try to send you these a couple at a time. Here's a rundown on a couple of pictures that I thought might interest your readers:

The Limey

Steven Soderbergh's first movie since last year's critically acclaimed, but commercially disappointing, Out of Sight. I'm a big fan of Soderbergh's work (Sex, Lies and Videotape; Kafka; King of the Hill; The Underneath; Gray's Anatomy), partially because each of his films is so different from the others. The Limey is certainly a modest production compared to Out of Sight, and it's not as compelling as most of his other films (largely due to some over-used cutscene techniques), although it's still entertaining.

The Limey is essentially a straight-forward, occasionally blunt, revenge movie. A British career criminal, played by Terrence Stamp (Superman 2, Phantom Menace, Pricilla. Queen of the Desert), boots over to the U.S. to investigate the suspicious death of his daughter. After a solid five minutes of investigating, Stamp concludes that his daughter's former boyfriend, a seedy record mogul (is there any other kind?) played by Peter Fonda, is due some serious retribution.

Stamp's character then opts to take the most direct route possible to inflict his revenge. He's not a subtle fellow -- don't expect carefully planned capers like those in Out of Sight or The Underneath. He's a guy who thinks he's being stealthy when he marches into his enemy's lair through the back door (and then promptly announces his presence). He's no Rambo either, however, as he's not unreasonably skilled and he doesn't stomp through armies of enemies. But there's a few too many fortuitous incidents where third parties prance into the middle of a conflict and either inadvertently or inexplicably save the day for our accented protagonist. The guy almost has "Forest Gump-like" luck, as his straight-forward, unplanned approach is almost always successful.

But more annoying than the plot's strain on credibility is Soderbergh's constant use of cutscenes to disrupt the flow of the storyline. Soderbergh has used flashbacks and foreshadowing scenes in his movies before (largely effectively), but never to the extent he uses them in The Limey. It's rare for more than a couple of minutes to pass before Soderbergh inserts a momentary flashback, or a snippet from a future event. Less frequently, the cutscene merely represents one of the Limey's fantasies, adding to the confusion. None of these scenes lasts more than a few seconds, but they're more disorienting than effective, especially since certain scenes are repeated constantly. Collectively they give the film a somewhat dream-like quality, which is perhaps what Soderbergh intended, but they're overused and accordingly dilute any tension that might otherwise develop from the plot.

Still, it's undeniably entertaining watching Stamp's veteran, thuggish criminal make Fonda's cronies look like neophyte goons. Character actor Luis Guzman interacts well with Stamp, and revenge plots are always engaging. Performances are solid throughout, with Fonda being particularly good. He has some great, plausible scenes with his latest trophy girlfriend including one that's almost single-handedly worth the price of admission where he reminisces about the 1960s. Heh, how can you not like Fonda telling an Easy Rider-ish 60s motorcycle accident anecdote?

72%

Deterrence

First time director Rod Lurie has crafted a real sleeper gem. Constantly thought-provoking, Deterrence's initially amusing and light-hearted plot ultimately evolves into a fairly substantial examination of morality.

Set in the near future, Deterrence casts Kevin Pollak as an unlikely U.S. President, and places Timothy Hutton (in a bit of a come-back performance) and Sheryl Lee Ralph in roles as advisors. Pollak's unelected Jewish President has arrived in his position after the death of the incumbent President (ala Gerald Ford). Lacking an electoral mandate but facing various international military crises, Pollak's President is on the campaign trail when he gets stranded in a Colorado dinner as a result of a ferocious (but unseen) snowstorm. Taking advantage of the fact that the U.S. has committed its military resources to other venues, Udei Hussein tries to surpass his father's achievements by ordering Iraqi forces to overrun Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. While the starstruck dinner staff struggles to serve up an appetizing feast for the Chief, Pollak's character ponders unleashing a nuclear attack.

While Deterrence is essentially a play -- all of the visible action takes place in the dinner -- Lurie effectively conveys a grander sense of scale. The unlikely premise never seems preposterous, in part because the cast members consistently play their roles feasibly and prepare a suitably Presidential base of operations. When the drama's stakes unexpectedly escalate, global events are convincingly portrayed through the use of a persistent CNN-ish background broadcast and the clever use of speaker phones.

But at its heart Deterrence is a morality fable. Each of the characters reacts to the crisis in a manner that reflects a different ethical perspective. For the most part the ethical differences are subtle, and rarely embarrass themselves as caricatures. I suspect that everyone who sees this movie will find one character for whom he or she feels a great sense of empathy. Pollak's President is by far the most interesting character in the film, however. At times he comes across as a Machiavellian monster and others as a master strategist. Ultimately, however, there are enough subtle clues given throughout the movie to produce a surprisingly one-sided image of his character (Lurie's post-film Q&A was particularly interesting because of the discussion on this point). I generally dislike it when a reviewer suggests that viewers may not "get" a movie's message (Harry was guilty of making a similar suggestion recently in the context of Atom Egoyan's films), but I believe that at least some viewers won't fully uncover Lurie's opinion of Pollak's President. Ultimately, however, I found the subtlety of the message more rewarding.

Deterrence is really a "small story" that seems larger because of the plot's international scope and moral ambiguity. Interestingly, Lurie was a film critic prior to stepping behind the camera (apparently almost a prerequisite in France, but pretty rare in North America). The fact that this tale can transcend its intimate setting is pretty convincing evidence that Lurie is a real talent. A genuine surprise.

83%

Desslock.