The Limey

Steven Soderbergh, 1999

IMDB

4/5

There’s a reason that film schools study The Limey. Its taking a simple premise and building a sophisticated visual construct around that premise. Something that amateur filmmakers wouldn’t be capable of doing. But someone like Soderbergh can. Soderbergh is one of the more prolific directors working, maybe the most. And I will admit right off the bat, I consider him to be a bit overrated. I am not a fan of all of Soderbergh’s films. While everyone raves about Out of Sight, I am not one of those people. I didn’t care for it. I thought Contagion was dull. I thought Gina Carrano’s distractingly bad acting killed Haywire, which felt too much like Out of Sight for me at times. In fact, in memory the two movies blend together for me in my mind. Girlfriend Experience felt empty and forgettable. And the Ocean’s sequels just lacked that same allurement that the first one had. But then there’s the original Ocean’s Eleven. One of the best remakes ever made. I saw it three times in the theater back in 2001. Side Effects was a really well crafted film, was really able to display some of Channing Tatum’s acting chops while giving Rooney Mara another avenue to display her natural abilities. Behind the Candelabra was an HBO release but that should have had a wide theatrical release. It’s unforgettable. That’s the thing with Soderbergh. You can rattle off a few of the films of his that you really care for and any director would kill to have those films in their filmography. He’s not out there to please everybody with every film. He takes risks and jumps around to vastly different material and that’s admirable.

You can really just boil down the plot of The Limey to a father wanting some closure for his daughter’s death. And Soderbergh is able to build this captivating, tense stylistic film around that premise. Precise editing, great performances, a hypnotic score with haunting piano, this sort of yellowish haze that seems to pour over the screen. It has remarks about social hierarchy and the whole wealthy class on the mountaintop. The complicated nature of a father and daughter relationship. There's even a subtle indictments of Hollywood and celebrity culture. In a sense the Limey is what Pierre Morel’s Taken would be in the hands of an auteur rather than an action director.

Behind the Candelabra

Steven Soderburgh, 2013


3/5

Soderburgh creates a glittery performance-driven picture, one that not only showcases the talent of Liberace the beloved American performer but also a figure who was very human - at times flawed and tempestuous. When the stage lights were on, the applause was loud. But when the curtains were closed, you see that the Liberace world was not all glamour. The qualities you see in Liberace's romantic life are qualities seen in any flawed relationship. Jealousy, manipulation, ego getting in the way. Unfortunately he lived in a place and time where he was bound to secrecy, fearing that if his sexuality was exposed it would be the end of his career. This of course would have elements that would spill into his relationships. His relationships would appear to be quite cyclical, when he's introduced to the new boy you can certainly see his past standing on the other side of the room.

Scott Thorson (Matt Damon) clearly comes off as a sympathetic figure in the film. Having to endure a turbulent upbringing, he's introduced to Lee and basically forced into a relationship with him. He's promised wealth and security. He later finds that those benefits will come at a high price. He finds he's also living in a world where he's not alone with Lee. There are many people the periphery - from managers, to assistants, to house staff. Soderburgh does a good job in pacing the genesis and the inevitable decay of the relationship. The arch of Scott's character feels quite authentic from the innocent eager-to-please young boy to the paranoid cocaine addict. 

Douglas gives one of the best performances of his career. Hopefully this does not overshadow Damon's performance because that was probably AS good. The editing is quite impressive, given that you assume Michael Douglas cannot play piano that well. Luckily there were not any distracting close shots of a pair of hands clearly not his. At first it almost looked as if Douglas' head was unevenly placed on the actual piano player, but it soon dissolved. There are also some great performances by Rob Lowe (probably the funniest character he's played), Dan Akroyd and Bob Black. It's disappointing that Soderburgh could not get funding for the film from the major studios (they said it was "too gay"). HBO came to the rescue, but the struggle seemed to have pushed him into his much publicized film sabbatical with a bad taste in his mouth. It should ultimately prove once again that we are now in a world where big-budget theatrical distribution is not the only release channel and there are now many avenues where a film can still be seen by many.

Side Effects

Steven Soderburgh, 2013


3/5

          Emily (Rooney Mara) is struggling through depression. During a hospital stay she meets psychiatrist Dr. Banks (Jude Law) who begins treating her. Part of the treatment is with a new, experimental drug called "Eblixa" which is immediately effective, but it's soon realized that it has surprising side effects.
          An engaging, suspenseful film with an intricate story in the mystery genre by the ever-prolific Steven Soderburgh. Having been disappointed with Soderburgh several times in the past, I go into every film with varied expectations, but found this one to be compelling. More sophisticated than Haywire but less far-fetched than Contagion, it has a more realistic feel to it that makes it particularly chilling. The film is shot in New York City, and somehow Soderburgh makes that feel fresh. Instead of the over-shot New York skyline in view, he treats you to corner angles of a green-lit Empire State Building at night through a contemporary apartment window. Almost immediately you see his signature ambient yellow-glow, clean photography of sharp architecture and precise editing. There's a resonant humming throughout the film that seems to be used by many filmmakers these days but certainly adds a chilling pitch that is very fitting in the moment. A very engaging score by Thomas Newman, especially with the use of dream-like tones reminiscent of "Song for Jesse" in the The Assassination of Jesse James. Rooney Mara is really effective in her role as Emily. She is vulnerable, sympathetic but effectively unpredictable. Jude Law gives a noteworthy performance as the determined Dr. Jonathan Banks. It's the third time that Soderburgh has cast Channing Tatum, and for good reason. He's sharp in his role as Martin Taylor, Emily's stock-trading husband recently jailed for insider trading. Soderburgh is without a doubt an intelligent filmmaker, and while I may not love all of his work, they all certainly possess a common signature that is unmistakably his own.

Haywire

Steven Soderburgh, 2011

2/5

I have to admit that I am not a fan of Soderburgh's films. I find them to be too clean, choppy, and they are absent of that grittiness that I look for. I didn't expect this to be any different, and it wasn't. I wanted to see this mainly for Gina Carano's performance. I found it disappointing. Her character seemed to lack the emotional depth that would make me get behind her. There were a couple of scenes that I really liked (the quick gun fight scene shot in black and white w/muffled sound, the car chase through the snowy woods), but overall the film just didn't do it for me.