Limbo

I have watched and do follow Australian TV and cinema and the likes of "Black Snow" and "Limbo" only seem to have scratched the tip of the iceberg in terms of racism... "Limbo" feels even more personal though. You can see it in the austere setting and cinematography, sparse dialogue, superb delicate and minimalist method acting, symbolism throughout... seems black and white, but there truly are far more shades of grey to start snowballing a real conversion which, in all fairness, never, in a million years, have I thought Aussies needed to tackle... At the end of the day, this IS a "whodunnit", but at a much larger scale... TOTALLY RECOMMENDED!

Aside from the stunning cinematography and some convincing performances, This movie is a recycled crime noir half-baked from the clichés of the genre. The story just ticks off the tropes of a lonesome, emotional wreck sort of cop who gets too personally involved in a case. No real reasons are offered for the detective's emotional involvement nor the way he resolves the mess the victim's family is in. The bleak detective 1. Has a broken marriage, 2. An estranged son, and 3. The guilt of killing someone in the past. He also is a drug addict and his addiction plays no role in his major decision-making moments nor becomes a struggle to prevent him from performing his heroic actions.

--Spoiler Alert--- The story unfolds as the victim's family refuses to talk to the detective because he is a cop and a white one too. Now that the trope is ticked off and we have some conflicts arrayed, the plot jumps over resolving this conflict and simply have the family members, without any change in their external or internal circumstances, to not only cooperate with him but also see him as a dear friend to the point of confiding their utmost feelings or reaching out for help in their very messed up family matters. The story conveniently ignores the fact that such a degree of vulnerability can only be shared with someone who has earned that kind of trust, and it fails even to offer a single trope-driven scene to cover this point.

Moving on to the next trope, when the lonesome detective gets to play a saviour to the victim's brother while drunk driving and a shoulder to cry for the victim's sister when she suddenly confides her twenty-year-old guilt, we are to believe that a cop who himself finds refuge in drugs to run away from his own dark feelings is so adeptly capable of giving generous care and compassion to some strangers. While it is possible for an emotional wreck to empathize with others, in this case, we have a character whose choice for dealing with emotional upheavals is escape. If this approach is to change, we must see him going through a serious struggle to earn that sort of mental strength, but again the story simply lets him without paying any price to switch gear and offer a great deal of openness and courage.

Mentioned above are only a few issues, there are too many complaisant moments in this film that make it barely engaging, yet the overwhelmingly positive feedback given on this website (currently at %95) which I believe is mostly from Australian critics indicates one thing. We set a much lower bar for an Australian film.

Limbo was an ok film that was heavily lacking in terms of details and substance.

It had the atmosphere, the dialogue and the characters overall felt realistic enough to believe in them. The atmosphere was all present, including a couple of metaphors here and there.

The idea of making it B&W didn't make too much sense for me, maybe it had something to do with the theme of the film, maybe it was made this was purely for the artistic purposes, but I'd appreciate it more if it had colors, just washed out or muted.

The detective concept worked fine, you could easily follow the story with the main character, understand what he was thinking without him directly explaining it. Many things in this film were understandable without direct expository dialogue, which is surely an achievement. Although, I'd appreciate more details and more of actual story. Seems like in real life things might be a little more complicated. The small amount of story the film had was still delivered and the ending was perfectly fine, although the main character's backstory and motivations of some characters were left behind.

So, as a one-time watch it's still perfectly fine, but more depth and real human emotions would've improve it for sure, since the story was either simplistic to begin with, or was simplified in the process.

The actors in this movie do a great job. Unfortunately thats where it stops.

While black and white might be an artist choir because of the name "Limbo" that could have been great that means the costume designer needed some more contrast. The whole film is grey.

There is nothing in the script that engages us with the characters themselves.. Who and why are the main missing themes.

The main character is obviously reworking a cold case, there is nothing about her case that is clear; is she miss6or or murdered. We don't even know what she looks like.

So many themes that could have been deeper. The overall script is an echo of the name, nothing is resolved, nothing is explained.

If you're looking for a violent, action-packed, Hollywood-type film you won't find it here & you'll probably write a snarky IMDB review. If, however, you prefer strong characterization, atmospheric settings, a gripping plot & perfect casting, this is your cup of Aussie tea. I was halfway through the film before I realized it was B/W - I only knew that the general feel of the extraordinary setting grabbed me from the first couple of minutes. Simon Baker is in top form & the rest of the casting was perfect for each role. The story line is strong and the film doesn't deviate from the central plot, but we are given a broad picture of all other characters and their relationship to the main conflict - it all works seamlessly yet intricately. This is one of the best films I've seen in a long time & happily recommend it.