Limbo

After seeing this movie on DVD, I found that I admired Sayles as a director, actress Mastrantonio as a talented singer, and David Straithern as an actor. Earlier I was only familiar with the above-average work of Mastrantonio but here she is remarkable. It is indeed sad that such interesting and well-made movies never fetch an Oscar, if not major Oscars. It is indeed "Ox-bow incident" revisited.

Every aspect of the film is well crafted and rivetting for any intelligent viewer.

The DVD commentary is a great one for movie enthusiasts.

With its leisurely pace, unusual structure, and highly ambiguous ending (not to mention a nonexistent marketing campaign), Limbo will quite likely divide the small audience that sees it. This is a terrible shame, as John Sayles is at the top of his game. Set in Alaska, Limbo comments incisively on a variety of complex issues concerning the vast state -- the relentless tourism, the scarcity of meaningful employment for the working class, and the careless abuses of irreplaceable natural resources by the wealthy, to name a few. All of these interesting themes, however, are discarded half-way through in favor of a thought-provoking story of human survival that will undoubtedly light a fire for some while irritating and alienating others. Sayles has not always connected with me, but I was deeply moved by Limbo (especially the rich characterizations provided by Martinez, Mastrantonio, and Sayles regular Strathairn) -- and I absolutely loved the gutsy ending, which continues to occupy my thoughts.

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.

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.

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.