Limbo

Having finally caught us with John Sayles' "Limbo", it must be said that the king of the indie scene can still surpass any genre.

Casting his friend (and movie veteran) David Strathairn as an Alaskan fisherman with an emotional crisis is one of the film's many pluses. Strathairn brings an everyman quality to every role he's in. The film is also not unlike Strathairn's own "The River Wild". At least, without the contrivances. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is also good as a bar singer (she sings pretty well too) hauling her teenage daughter (Vanessa Martinez, very good in her debut) through gig after gig. The film also has some thriller elements; but, this of course, is Sayles, who wisely pushes for character development and dialogue ladened with truth.

As he proved with EIGHT MEN OUT, MATEWAN, CITY OF HOPE, and PASSION FISH, Sayles is a truly gifted writer/director. Keep it coming.

Once again, as do all John Sayles films, this is no Hollywood fare. There are no easy answers or solutions to the questions raised or problems illustrated. John Sayles gives his insightful subtle approaches to another aspect of life and living, of ordinary people tackling everyday encounters and challenges. Nothing spectacular (yet it is quietly spectacular). It's another multi-character study, and Sayles is very good at telling the story and providing the different premises and details in a seemingly casual manner. Sayles fans know it will not be a boring journey - life lessons will be assimilated.

In LIMBO, photography is skillfully delivered by veteran cinematographer Haskell Wexler (the unforgettable "Medium Cool" 1969, which he also wrote and directed; "The Thomas Crown Affair" 1968 with director Norman Jewison; two with Sayles: "Matewan" 1987, "The Secret of Roan Inish" 1994). Here, graphic detail shots are included on fishing, informing us of the intricacies involved - it's Sayles ingredients to the core.

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, as always, a tour de force. She gets to demonstrate what a wonderful singer she can be. She did a terrific job - she sings so well that it sounds like Judy Collins at times! David Strathairn, for once, is not in a supporting role. He is in the male lead role and as expected, a quiet sensitive delivery of his character as a fisherman incognito. There is mother and daughter tension at play here. Vanessa Martinez played the teenage daughter and what a superb performance - hers is no easy role. The segment by the campfire where she reads from a diary book, her subtle expressions and poignant portrayal complete this triangle of complex emotional cauldron a-brewing…yet she held her own in capturing our attention on her touching delivery.

This is not an easy film to consume - it provides mind probing and requires reflective thinking. A John Sayles fan MUST-SEE, or anyone who's ready for a different movie and a change of pace.

Music is by Mason Daring. As usual, the film is written, directed, and edited by John Sayles himself.

I'd suggest that viewers watch 'Limbo' on DVD with the voice-over narrative by John Sayles, the director. A lot of insights provided there, including a lot of little details which give you insight into movie-making--the reason for multiple takes, visual effects, the importance of 'continuity', and even a lot about sound, which was a big issue in the making of this film.

I was amazed to learn that Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is such a terrific singer--she sang all the songs and, in fact, her voice was recorded live while shooting the scenes, not dubbed in later in post-production. Sayles describes this in his narrative.

Sayles had less to say in the narrative about the ending, but based on the comments he DID make it was all quite intentional--not the result of studio politics or a screenwriter (Sayles himself) who couldn't decide on a final ending. In fact, I would suggest that it is Sayles' standing in the business that permitted this film to be produced & released without answering the question of what becomes of those characters, though it also occurs to me that it could be the reason why this film didn't get much of a marketing push. Clearly the audience is left hanging in--dare I say it--a state of limbo. Sayles has no intention, based on his comments, of a sequel, though he invites anyone else to dream one up if they wish.

But aside from all this, it was a terrific film, with interesting characters, shot in unusual and often stunning locations ("Insomnia" comes to mind when thinking of recent films shot in Alaska with its scenic backdrops).

The cast was generally quite good--Mastrantonio and Strathairn were terrific, and Kris Kristofferson was a great choice as the likable but edgy local, Smilin' Jack Johannson. Vanessa Martinez was, for me, less convincing as the daughter until the boat trip and beyond, but that is when her character becomes truly important to the story and her work was quite good when it mattered most; up to then it was all teenage angst.

Overall, I enjoyed 'Limbo' a great deal, and the limbo in which the audience is left with such abruptness was, for me, almost a slap in the face--a welcome one--in striking contrast to the 'Star Wars' series in which George Lucas took 6 movies and nearly 30 years to tell us how Darth Vader came to be.

Note: I am NOT slamming Lucas or 'Star Wars' by that comment, only making a point.

This movie starts like a typical great John Sayles movie. It is about people in Alaska struggling to get through their day-to-day lives, some with dignity, some not so much. They are all interesting and they all have their secrets and their stories. Like any small town, everyone knows everyone else's problems.

The second half of the movie is about circumstances that leave Joe Gastineau, his new girlfriend, and her daughter stranded on a remote island and their struggle to survive. I had trouble believing any of the action in the second half. It starts going wrong when Joe brings the girls on his brother's boat without asking his brother if that was OK. Then his brother does not object even though he knows it is going to be dangerous. Later, the bad guys track down the boat, even though the boat is not where it is supposed to be due to a storm. The bad guys are able to silently sneak up on and board the boat. Joe and friends are able to swim away from and escape from the bad guys even though the bad guys have a motor boat and guns. They struggle to survive on the remote island, but they always seem too clean, dry, shaved, and well fed. The movie then has a cop-out ending, although I could not think of a better ending, given the incredible action that preceded it.

The second half of the movie did not feel like a John Sayles movie. It was like someone else wrote it.

This movie has some great performances. David Strathairn is a troubled, but good hearted handy-man. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is wonderful as a singer who is just barely keeping her life in order and raising a daughter. She portrays someone who is cheerful and optimistic and at the same time someone who is weary and can see only more problems in the future. She is getting older and has given up ever becoming a famous singer. It is an interesting, appealing character.

Hi, my name is Slim and I just saw a movie about how just when you think life is going good and you got all the major stuff like food, money, and love dialed in and it's just about time you got comfortable with a six-pack of some cold longnecks WHAM! that cold-ass harlot Bad Luck cold cocks you one. Then the next thing you know you're stuck on some wet, dank, isolated-on-the-buttwipe-end Alaskan island with this gal you were just getting to know real well, not to mention her teenage daughter who's into self-mutilation and strange stories, and to top it all off some drug running nimrods who just got burned are looking for all your butts with their superduper peekaboo scoped rifle.

I'm talking about Limbo, made by the one of best directors who doesn't give a damn about Hollywood and does it his way all the time-John Sayles, and has one of my favorite babe actress-Mary Elizabeth Maistrantonio. It all takes place somewhere way up in Alaska where men are fisherman, women are fish cleaners, and the tourists are stupid fat Midwesterners. My babe Mary is this singer who just left her 51st, or 63rd, or 102nd guy and goes right after her 52nd or 64th or whatever, who is this guy who used to be a fisherman but due to 'unforeseen circumstances' isn't one now. But since way up there in fish country winters are long and women are scarce and fish just don't last all winter he decides she is all right, and besides she is Mary Elizabeth Maistrantonio. Anyway, he and she and the teenage daughter decide to go for a boat ride, so off they go along with his long-lost half-brother who decides to pull a con on his half-bro and use him as a bodyguard for some stupid pigheaded easy money drug deal. But of course it ain't easy money, and so it's a man overboard and everyone swim for their life scene.

We got fish being cleaned, fish being shot, fish being canned, fish being fish, we got pretty postcard pictures of somewheres up in Alaska which looks like they got enough trees to build all of us a 5000 square foot house, we got losers in a bar with their own barstool, we got Robinson Crusoe only Friday is a babe and her daughter, and finally we got an ending that just goes to show that we don't really know what's going to happen in our lives.

Three and a half bright north stars. Go check it out but only if you want to watch a movie where when it's over you want to go back for more. Or else drop kick a size 12 metal toed boot to the rear of Sayles for ending the movie the way he did.