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Film / The Limey

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"You tell him, you tell him I'm coming. Tell him I'm fucking coming!"
Wilson

The Limey is a 1999 film directed by Steven Soderbergh. It stars Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda.

Wilson, played by Stamp, the titular "limey", believes American Terry Valentine was responsible for his daughter's death.

He travels to LA to put things right as violently as possible.


Contains the following tropes

  • Accidental Murder: Jenny.
  • Actor Allusion: Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda. Wilson's appearance as a young man is footage from Ken Loach's Poor Cow, and Valentine's intro music is "King Midas In Reverse", whose lyrics include "He's Easy Rider with a curse".
  • Anachronic Order: the movie uses it within some scenes, shifting back and forth between moments, often with the sound from the next moment taking over just before the jump.
  • Blatant Lies: Wilson recalls how, in childhood, Jenny would announce that she would going to rat her father out to the police in an attempt to get him to go straight. He always recognized it as an empty threat. This comes back to haunt her when she tries to pull the same stunt on Terry, who takes the threat seriously and accidentally kills her in response.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Terry Valentine. He works in music and is profiting from drugs on the side, relying on Avery to keep it from being traced to him.
  • Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!: Subverted. "I embrace this lifestyle," insists Stacy the Hitman, only to be knocked off well before the credits roll.
  • The Dragon: Avery.
  • Evil Old Folks: Wilson, Terry Valentine, and Avery.
  • Funny Background Event: Wilson attends Terry's party, discreetly at first. During a conversation inside, Valentine sees one of his security accosting Wilson on the veranda right before Wilson yeets the security guard over the railing to his death.
  • Has Two Thumbs and...: Nicky Katt's character tells the "loves blowjobs" variety.
  • He Knows Too Much: Led directly to Jenny's accidental death.
  • Indulgent Fantasy Segue: When Wilson is inconspicuously attending one of Valentine's parties to scope out the man who killed his daughter, he fantasizes about just shooting him right there and then in full view of everyone.
  • Jive Turkey: Of the "Cockney rhyming slang" variety.
    "Now look, squire, you're the guv'nor here, I can see that. I'm in your manor now. So there's no need to get your knickers in a twist. Whatever this bollocks is that's going down between you and that slag Valentine, it's got nothing to do with me. I couldn't care less. Alright, mate? Let me explain."
  • London Gangster: Wilson.
  • Papa Wolf: Wilson.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Wilson's too late to save his little girl, but not to avenge her. He stays his hand when he realizes that the death was accidental and, in a roundabout way, he was partially responsible.
  • Running Gag: Wilson's use of British vernacular and Cockney rhyming slang consistently confuses the Americans he has to deal with.
    "There's one thing I don't understand. The thing I don't understand is every motherfuckin' word you're saying."
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: offscreen, but an Establishing Character Moment for both Valentine and Avery: "The goods have been turned around, the money's been laundered, the guys are dead. This is a good thing."

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