‘The Limey’ Is Slick, Entertaining L.A. Noir

Steven Soderbergh follows up the critically lauded “Out of Sight” with “The Limey,” a sleek, stylish contemporary L.A. noir, a solid genre film that offers the satisfactions of the familiar while deriving its resonance through its specific and telling references to the ‘60s.

Fittingly it stars two ‘60s icons, Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda, with Barry Newman, star of the 1971 cult film “Vanishing Point,” and Andy Warhol regular Joe Dallesandro in key supporting roles. What’s more, it has a lovely leading lady in the wonderful Lesley Ann Warren, who knows her way around genre as well. “The Limey” is just the ticket for those who remember the ‘60s; it has more depth than “Out of Sight” but probably won’t have as wide an appeal.

Stamp has the title role as Wilson, who’s just completed his third term (of nine years) for armed robbery. While still in prison, the long-widowed Wilson has received word that his daughter Jennifer, who was an infant when he was first convicted, has been killed in a fiery car crash on Mulholland Drive. Wilson has become convinced that it was no accident and heads for L.A. to get some answers.

Soderbergh and writer Lem Dobbs are thus able to inject complexity and ambiguity in the stoic Wilson right from the start. You feel that this steely, silver-haired, very tough man is seeking a redemption that could boomerang--that Wilson could find himself confronted with the truth that he is ultimately responsible for his daughter’s fate, regardless of whether he accepts that responsibility.

Jennifer turns out to have been that L.A. archetype, the pretty aspiring actress. The man who sent word of her death to her father is Ed (Luis Guzman), a likable ex-con living in East L.A. who has straightened out his life and had been Jennifer’s friend and drama coach. Ed learned of her death from another of Jennifer’s friends, Elaine (Warren), an actress for whom stardom proved elusive but who is a resourceful survivor. Elaine felt Wilson should be notified, even if his daughter thought of him as a ghost.

Wilson’s key target is Terry Valentine (Fonda), a successful rock ‘n’ roll promoter back in the ‘60s, who could well have been tempted to engage in some decidedly unsavory dealings to maintain the lavish lifestyle to which he has become accustomed. Although Valentine can get momentarily wistful over the ‘60s, he is essentially shallow, a glib man who dresses expensively and has held on with all his might to his looks. (Could Terry’s surname be a reference to the late Elmer Valentine, co-owner of the Whisky and a Sunset Strip celeb of eras past?)

He’s just the kind of seemingly rich and powerful guy who easily ensnares ambitious though naive women young enough to be his daughters. He lives in a spectacular cantilevered house in the Hollywood Hills with his current squeeze, the delectable Adhara (Amelia Heinle).

Danger, violence and plot convolutions quickly envelop Wilson and everyone with whom he comes in contact, taking us into the town’s murkiest margins. We’ve been down these mean streets many times before, but in its writing and adroit casting, “The Limey” evokes the lost idealism and dreams of the ‘60s. Stamp’s Wilson is rightly the fearless, implacable monomaniac, but Soderbergh gives him a past, courtesy of Ken Loach, from whose memorable 1967 “Poor Cow” the director and Dobbs borrow some key sequences. We see how the father’s thievery impacts his little daughter, but we also glimpse the affable, smiling young Wilson strumming a guitar and singing, entertaining little Jennifer and her mother (Carol White).

Warren’s Elaine is the true adult here, and her smarts and charm represent what might have been for Wilson, had he been somehow deflected from his course. Newman is Valentine’s top aide, as ruthless as he is loyal, and Dallesandro plays a laid-back hired killer teamed with the nervy, jumpy, much younger Stacy (Nicky Katt), for whom the dream of L.A. success has gone sour.

Soderbergh unleashes a flourish of flash-forwards here and there that reveal Wilson’s resolve of iron and become part of the elegant nonchalance that is the film’s stylized quality. Ed Lachman’s photography of locales high and low is lush, varied and supple, and all aspects of the film contribute toward making it a sophisticated entertainment of considerable subtlety.

* MPAA rating: R, for violence and language. Times guidelines: The film is too brutal for youngsters but is typical of the genre, and the violence is appropriate to the story.

‘The Limey’

Terence Stamp: Wilson

Peter Fonda: Terry Valentine

Lesley Ann Warren: Elaine

Luis Guzman: Ed

Barry Newman: Avery

An Artisan Entertainment. Director Steven Soderbergh. Producers John Hardy and Scott Kramer. Screenplay by Lem Dobbs. Cinematographer Ed Lachman. Editor Sarah Flack. Music Cliff Martinez. Costumes Louise Frogley. Production designer Gary Frutkoff. Set decorator Kathryn Peters. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

At selected theaters.