Limbo (I) (1999) User Reviews

Challenging, absorbing another John Sayles gem cut distinctly different - more than meets the eye

[ruby_fff · 8/10 · 6 January 2000]

Once again, as do all John Sayles films, this is no Hollywood fare. There are no easy answers or solutions to the questions raised or problems illustrated. John Sayles gives his insightful subtle approaches to another aspect of life and living, of ordinary people tackling everyday encounters and challenges. Nothing spectacular (yet it is quietly spectacular). It's another multi-character study, and Sayles is very good at telling the story and providing the different premises and details in a seemingly casual manner. Sayles fans know it will not be a boring journey - life lessons will be assimilated.

In LIMBO, photography is skillfully delivered by veteran cinematographer Haskell Wexler (the unforgettable "Medium Cool" 1969, which he also wrote and directed; "The Thomas Crown Affair" 1968 with director Norman Jewison; two with Sayles: "Matewan" 1987, "The Secret of Roan Inish" 1994). Here, graphic detail shots are included on fishing, informing us of the intricacies involved - it's Sayles ingredients to the core.

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, as always, a tour de force. She gets to demonstrate what a wonderful singer she can be. She did a terrific job - she sings so well that it sounds like Judy Collins at times! David Strathairn, for once, is not in a supporting role. He is in the male lead role and as expected, a quiet sensitive delivery of his character as a fisherman incognito. There is mother and daughter tension at play here. Vanessa Martinez played the teenage daughter and what a superb performance - hers is no easy role. The segment by the campfire where she reads from a diary book, her subtle expressions and poignant portrayal complete this triangle of complex emotional cauldron a-brewing…yet she held her own in capturing our attention on her touching delivery.

This is not an easy film to consume - it provides mind probing and requires reflective thinking. A John Sayles fan MUST-SEE, or anyone who's ready for a different movie and a change of pace.

Music is by Mason Daring. As usual, the film is written, directed, and edited by John Sayles himself.

'Limbo' is Aptly Titled

[tramky · 8/10 · 29 May 2005]

I'd suggest that viewers watch 'Limbo' on DVD with the voice-over narrative by John Sayles, the director. A lot of insights provided there, including a lot of little details which give you insight into movie-making--the reason for multiple takes, visual effects, the importance of 'continuity', and even a lot about sound, which was a big issue in the making of this film.

I was amazed to learn that Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is such a terrific singer--she sang all the songs and, in fact, her voice was recorded live while shooting the scenes, not dubbed in later in post-production. Sayles describes this in his narrative.

Sayles had less to say in the narrative about the ending, but based on the comments he DID make it was all quite intentional--not the result of studio politics or a screenwriter (Sayles himself) who couldn't decide on a final ending. In fact, I would suggest that it is Sayles' standing in the business that permitted this film to be produced & released without answering the question of what becomes of those characters, though it also occurs to me that it could be the reason why this film didn't get much of a marketing push. Clearly the audience is left hanging in--dare I say it--a state of limbo. Sayles has no intention, based on his comments, of a sequel, though he invites anyone else to dream one up if they wish.

But aside from all this, it was a terrific film, with interesting characters, shot in unusual and often stunning locations ("Insomnia" comes to mind when thinking of recent films shot in Alaska with its scenic backdrops).

The cast was generally quite good--Mastrantonio and Strathairn were terrific, and Kris Kristofferson was a great choice as the likable but edgy local, Smilin' Jack Johannson. Vanessa Martinez was, for me, less convincing as the daughter until the boat trip and beyond, but that is when her character becomes truly important to the story and her work was quite good when it mattered most; up to then it was all teenage angst.

Overall, I enjoyed 'Limbo' a great deal, and the limbo in which the audience is left with such abruptness was, for me, almost a slap in the face--a welcome one--in striking contrast to the 'Star Wars' series in which George Lucas took 6 movies and nearly 30 years to tell us how Darth Vader came to be.

Note: I am NOT slamming Lucas or 'Star Wars' by that comment, only making a point.

Another excellent John Sayles film

[Movman · 8/10 · 29 August 2001]

John Sayles along with David Mamet is my favorite screenwriter. Sayles unlike Mamet is a great director as well. This film is an exploration of family, morality, love, and survival. The preview is no good so just trust me and watch the film. The writing is outstanding. There are parts of the film that contain the reading from a diary, and the prose there is beautiful. It is more than that it is exquisite. The acting is first rate. David Sraitharn a long time Sayles actor gives a an excellent performance as Jumping Joe Gastineau a Jack of All trades guy looking for some love to fill the empty whole in his life. Mary Elziabeth Mastriantonio who has been cut out of Hollywood now that she is over 35 is also very good. She plays the Nomadic musician with child in tow. She is just trying to put a life together and raise her child the best way she can. The Characthers are real and the situations they are put in are interesting ones. We get to find out about who these people are and what they are made of. They are thrown together by chance and choice. The young actress playing the daughter does fantastic job and I hope she continues to act although I haven't sene her again since. The film is aptly name because Limbo is what the characters are in, and it is also what you the viewer will be in. I love these kinds of movies. I like to watch an interesting story with fascinating characters. If you don't know who John Sayles is then watch this movie and start watching his other films Lonestar, Men with Guns, Passion Fish, Eight Men Out, and of course Brother from another planet.

Beautifully realized, involving film is pure Sayles

[pooch-8 · 23 August 1999]

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.

Great film and a notable DVD

[JuguAbraham · 9/10 · 24 July 2001]

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.

Beautifully Flawed

[Felix-30 · 6/10 · 6 June 1999]

There are a couple of scenes in "Limbo" that rank among the best in any of John Sayles's films. Compassionate and heartfelt, I'm thinking mostly of a few quietly restrained encounters between the two leads (played to sensitive perfection by David Strathairn and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio).

What a disappointment, then, that the sum of "Limbo" turns out to be a much lesser achievement than its parts. At least half of this film belongs in another movie, including a interesting but extranious subplot about a quirly lesbian couple, and even the much-talked about survival story which dominates the whole second half.

Sayles is obviously trying to confund our expectations and leave us hanging (in Limbo perhaps). That's fine--the ending sure does it in a big way! But from a thematic standpoint: What is Sayles really doing? He's crafted some of his most finely nuanced characters here. Why does he insist on driving them along this limbo-ridden jagged road? Why does a story so simple and beautiful have to be interrupted by a bunch of murderous drug thugs?

Sayles might say that's the point of "Limbo." I say that's a lazy answer.

Lives up to its name

[isisherbs2000 · 10/10 · 8 October 2005]

I enjoyed this movie tremendously, and although I agree with previous posters that the 'mother' is a monster, I thought that helped the film, particularly since she was portrayed sensitively-ish (she's definitely the least sympathetic of the 3 main characters). The self-absorption and the amazingly flamboyant failed attempts at good parenting are all part of the title: Limbo. Mastroantonio's character is in perpetual limbo, and as a result, so is her daughter. Straithairn is simply trying to live, in limbo due to an accident for which he feels responsible (but isn't). The community is in limbo, as well, as industries close and local officials try to find a way to keep the economy afloat (and their own pockets full). Although one could argue that the crisis - Straithairn's brother's 'situation' - is a little manipulative, I didn't mind it, and I loved the fact that the crisis led the trio to a 'time-out' - limbo within a limbo. It was filmed so beautifully, acted so amazingly well and was so nice and slow that I almost felt envious of the characters for their situation - who, in real life, gets to put their life into a perspective while bonding with other truly caring souls? Of course, being hunted by killers, starving to death and worrying about dying in the Alaskan winter are no picnic...but, there was a strong sense of togetherness and of honesty, even painful and inappropriate honesty. As for the ending --- well, I, too, shouted 'NO!' at the screen, but only because I ended up loving these characters so much I wanted to see them do well - to get out of limbo, as they all so ardently wish for (the final scene itself was so expressive, both in the staging and the acting, that it tore me up). Of course, I didn't want them to die, either! A perfectly formed movie. I will watch it again, for sure.

Starts great then bogs down

[panicwatcher · 7/10 · 8 May 2001]

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.

The ending is bold

[safenoe · 9/10 · 18 November 2016]

I first saw David Strathairn in Sneakers, and he's an impressive actor, and he was excellent in Limbo. I remember seeing a review blurb saying the ending was one of the most shocking ever, and I thought, I have to see Limbo.

If you're into fast and furious cars, expendables, etc, then please move aside please. Please get out of your cinema seat. Limbo requires lots of thought and is nuanced.

The ending is haunting, and to this day I still think about it, wondering what happened to the three characters. Did they survive? Are they know living together as a family unit?

A promising disappointment

[aberlour36 · 7/10 · 20 October 2005]

This beautifully filmed and highly intelligent movie is essentially a soap opera about a small-time nightclub singer in Alaska and her adolescent daughter. The latter is perpetually upset by the former's continuous succession of boy friends, forcing the daughter to move each year and feel a loneliness that is eating her up. The plot, in short, resembles that of Neal Simon's The Goodbye Girl.

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is superb as the singer, and David Strathairn is a fine lead male character. More than halfway through the film, the plot takes a strong turn, and the lives of the three major characters are placed in jeopardy. Incredibly, the film ends without resolving the issue. We do not know if these interesting people we've learned to know for the past couple of hours are murdered or rescued. In a theater, I would have booed and thrown things at the screen. (Well, at least when I was younger and dumber.) Along the way, we receive some liberal propaganda about the commercial uses of Alaska. And there are some fine shots of the landscape and seascape. But don't expect to learn much about the state, for this is a fascinating melodrama that could have been filmed anywhere. What a shame that John Sayles copped out at the end, leaving many viewers frustrated and angry.

Experimental movie drama that unfortunately fails

[Maziun · 3/10 · 30 November 2013]

This is definitely an unconventional narrative about group of people in small town in Alaska. The writer/director John Sayles wanted to make an unconventional movie that plays with audience expectations . When there is a shotgun hanging on the wall the audience should expect that it will be used in the movie – that's how most movies work. The writers write movies as a mathematical calculation where 2 plus 2 gives 4 . They want to capture life in their movies , but often the shape their own reality based on logic with moral in the end. After watching many movies audience can have certain expectations about where the story is going, what will happen , what could happen and what will be the message.

Styles here tries to imitate life as much as it's possible. In the first half of movie we are introduced to characters that don't really play any important part in the second half – the lesbian couple , frustrated fisherman , jolly bartender. In fact "Limbo" is basically two movies in one , similar to "Full metal jacket". The first hour is a movie about people of small town , while the second hour pretends to be a thriller about three people. Calling this movie a "thriller" is a bit misleading , it's certainly no "Deliverance".

The acting is fine . Vanessa Martinez is believable as angry teenager , David Strathairn is effectively playing troubled, but good hearted handy-man . Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is lovely as singer who can't settle with her life. There is some nice fun dialogue here and the movie is quite beautifully photographed.

"Limbo" doesn't work either as thriller or drama . The thriller elements are few and badly done . There is a lot of potential drama here : troubled past of Joe , the love triangle , the mother-daughter relationship. The problem is that everything is done with sensibility of soap opera . I'm sorry , but I wasn't move by anything here. The movie is too slow in some places. There is also an irritating amount of small talk that leads nowhere. And why waste your time of showing characters in the first half of the movie when they don't play any part in the second half . Kris Kristofferson is supposed to be an important character , yet his completely bland.

The biggest problem however is the ending . I don't mind open endings that allow the audience to use imagination and decide what happened in the end – "Mechanic" , "Inception", "The Killing of Chinese bookie" and few others. The fans of Sayles say that it was the only way to end the movie and there is some merit in their arguments . However , Sayles himself admitted that he didn't knew how to end the movie and the ending is the result of that . It feels like the movie misses a reel. In my opinion it's awful ending.

"Limbo" is kinda interesting experiment , but after two viewings I still think it's an ambitious failure. I give it 3/10.

Brilliant multifaceted commentary on the power of Story

[OldAle1 · 9/10 · 25 July 2009]

This film is going to upset many of its viewers. Most people go into a movie with some expectation that it's going to get set up in the first few minutes to tell a certain kind of story, and stick with it. Exceptions might occur in some "art" movies - but this doesn't seem very artsy - or a thriller; there's nothing thriller-like here at all in fact - until halfway through, when it all changes 180 degrees.

Donna (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) is a 40is struggling singer playing a small coastal city in Alaska. At the beginning of the film she's at an outdoor wedding and she happens to break up with her boyfriend, a member of the band she's singing with, and needs a ride home which she gets from Joe Gastineau (David Strathairn) a somewhat older man who works for the lesbian couple that own the house where the wedding takes place. The low-key Joe and the more aggressive Donna form an uneasy friendship, that uneasily leads to a romance complicated by the fact that Donna's introverted teen-aged daughter Noelle (Vanessa Martinez) also has a crush on Joe, who she sometimes works with.

So this is a low-key drama about working-class people struggling and finding love in a remote town, right? There are several scenes set in a bar where Donna finds work after leaving her band, lots of dialogue about how tough the fishing is, how rough things are now that a canning plant has closed down - there are a couple of brief shots of the factory, cleaning up for a last time. We have Kris Kristofferson playing his typical menacing but charming adversary in the background, involved some way in Joe's questionable past; a sort of love-triangle, a difficult mother-daughter relationship, and the uneasy situation he finds himself in when his much-younger half-brother Bobby (Casey Siemaszko) shows up needing help with a little job...

At this point, as Joe and Donna and Noelle accompany Bobby on a boat trip to a remote island, the uneasiness starts to build - what exactly is Bobby up to? Why is he upset that Joe is bringing the two women along - but unwilling to tell him not to? On their first night, anchored in a small bay, we find the answer to these questions but they bring on more problems that carry through to the end of the film. Soon Joe, Donna and Noelle are stranded on the island, fending off starvation, cold -- and the possibility of murder. The low-key family/romantic drama has become a frightening survival-thriller with no easy or positive outcome in sight.

So we have one kind of film that quickly and surprisingly changes into another kind, but what is really remarkable about Limbo is that there's a third film lurking beneath the surface from the first moments to the last, that really makes itself known only near the very end - unless you're sharper at noticing what's going on beneath the pretty blunt and sometimes stereotypical dialogue and characters than I was on a first go-round. "Limbo" is about the very nature of storytelling, in all its forms - lying, exaggeration, the tricks that memories play, the stories we're told that end up being lies, and the lies we tell ourselves. In an old abandoned shack on the island, Noelle finds a hundred-year old diary, and reads from it every night for the couple of weeks the trio are stranded. The diary recounts hardships and privations, and joys at the wonder of nature; it also carries sometimes-subtle reflections of Noelle's feelings about her mother, reflected back when Noelle is informed that the stories she was told about her biological father have all been false. The revelations in the last few minutes, when we think about what they have to say about the characters we are watching now, on this little island, say just as much to us about the conversations and flashes of earlier histories that we've heard throughout the film, and we begin to question where and with whom real truth ever lies - and whether it matters as much as the stories we choose to tell, and the ways in which we embellish those truths, for good or ill.

I have some problems with "Limbo" that I tend to have with a lot of Sayles' films - many of the characters seem to be...characters; much of the dialogue is wooden and sounds written; many of the little touches he throws in (Noelle being vegan and her penchant for self-mutilation) seem obvious and generic. But the central performances are all so excellent (particularly Martinez, whose career seems to have alas gone nowhere), and the ending so elegant and so miraculous in its achievement of wrapping everything into a grand and beautiful inquiry into the power of myth-making and storytelling, that I can largely forgive the faults. Overall, a brilliant film with one of the very best endings I've ever seen.

Art-house TV movie

[howie73 · 6/10 · 4 April 2005]

This is certainly a film of two halves. It feels like an upmarket TV movie at first but the acting and camera-work are superior to that aforementioned fare. There is a sense of a community evoked by Sayles's direction as he follows a diverse array of characters and overlaps their problems with the actions of others, while, at the same time, providing enough social commentary on the evils of capitalism that threaten the natural beauty of Alaska. This socio-political commentary is subtle enough because Sayles avoids stereotypes in his portrayal of the inhabitants. The first half feels fragmented at times but the presentation of the blossoming romance between the two main characters provides a seemingly stable counterpoint to the Altmanesque rendering of the tale.

However, the film is really a tease. It abandons the first half in favor of the unexpected Lord of the Flies scenario involving the three main characters for the second half. Moreover, it changes mood full circle, using fear and anxiety as the main concerns of the three stranded characters, whose lives hang in the balance, in a state of limbo as it were. I wasn't sure how the first half related to the second, and I still feel uneasy about the total break Sayles employed between both parts. As a result, it feels like two films joined together. I also feel Sayles abandoned any sense of a multi-threaded narrative drive he successfully built into the first part in favor of the unexpected second part. The second part may symbolically allude to the film's title but it's also an abrupt digression of the preceding genre.

Why bother with showing the first hour if it wasn't followed up? Why bother showing many characters in the first half, then abandoning their concerns in the later, as if it didn't matter? This is essentially a TV movie for the art-house crowd but one that challenges and frustrates in equal measure.

Realistic Slice of Life Ruined by Gimmicky Conclusion

[noralee · 5/10 · 20 December 2005]

"Limbo" continues John Sayles travels around the continent to find distinctive regionalisms and he portrays small town Alaska with a real authentic feel.

The audio and video were out of synch for the first 15 minutes so I missed some of a key scene where the singer breaks up with her boyfriend through a song, which was too bad as the cover songs are terrific, from Tom Waits to Richard Thompson's "Dimming of the Day."

The acting was excellent, particularly, Vanessa Martinez as a very believable teenager. David Strathairn was both restrained and passionate. I just wasn't completely convinced that Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's character had gone through changes to be at peace with herself. Kris Kristofferson again does a bad guy scarily convincingly.

But the surprise "limbo" conclusion ruined the film for me and virtually everyone else in the audience also groaned.

(originally written 7/12/1999)

Ignore the Bad Press - This is a True Gem!

[danspurr · 6 June 2003]

Don't Believe the Type (...below). John Sayles' Limbo is a slow-burning, stonker of a movie! The character interaction and dialogue are sublime and subtle. Personally I love to see David Strathairn in the lead role, and it is to Sayles' credit that he has, and continues to give this deft actor a chance to shine. For those who have complained about the 'boring storyline' and 'dissapointing finale' I feel sorry, really very sorry - Sorry, that you could not enjoy the films' depth and intelligence as I did. And if you didn't like the ending, then well, you just don't get it, do you?

Tops marks Mr. Sayles, One of your Best!!

Why didn't people like the ending?

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 11 October 2005]

A common question that people ask about movie directors is: which of his/her movies was your favorite? I wish to assert not only that John Sayles is probably the greatest American director alive today, but that "Limbo" was his best movie, tied with "Lone Star".

The former tells the stories of several people in a small town in Alaska. We get to see a couple of stories: a corporate executive wants to log out a forest but leave a thin strip of trees so that no one can see it; the factory is closing down because the ocean is all fished out; and finally, Joe Gastineau (David Strathairn), Donna De Angelo (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) and Noelle De Angelo (Vanessa Martinez) are trapped in limbo.

The best part was the ending. A lot of people thought that the ending made no sense, but I thought that it added to the movie's feeling of the world coming apart. You have to see it. 10/10.

Wildly overpraised.

[JayJeffersonCooke · 6/10 · 4 October 2001]

This film is average at best. It is not as good as many other Sayles efforts, including Passion Fish, Eight Men Out and Lone Star.

For those who think it's so good, my question to you is: Have you read the short story The Lady or the Tiger? That's from where the ending of Limbo was stolen, oops sorry, I mean borrowed. :-)

a beautiful and imaginative retelling of the Christmas story

[bobbie-16 · 8/10 · 12 December 2001]

The viewer soon realizes that Sayles is retelling the story of Christmas: Mary De Angelis is Mary of the Angels, Joseph is Joseph, and Noelle (get it? Noel) is the mysterious Christ child, with stigmata and the webbed hands/fins of a fish. The family has to flee the murderers, they live in a sort of a manger (the old fur farm), and read the lost diary of those who went before (the Old Testament). At the end, they are faced with the Slaughter of the Innocents. You don't have to be a believer to be fascinated by the beauty of the landscape and mysterious serenity of Noelle; Sayles draws the viewer into his world and meets the challenging of retelling this story in a new way.

Minor But Beautifully-Made Alaskan John Sayles Drama

[ShootingShark · 6/10 · 26 June 2005]

In a small port town in Alaska, a man grief-stricken from a boating accident in his youth befriends an itinerant singer and her introverted daughter. After being attacked on a sailing trip, they are marooned on a small deserted island and must fend for themselves.

A typically observant, well-written, intriguing and thoughtful drama from editor-writer-director Sayles, where even the minor characters are witty and interesting. As with all of Sayles' work, his smooth, relaxed style seems to bring out the very best in his actors and make the story all the more poignant and touching - his technique is almost invisible. The cast are great, with Strathairn giving another of his intense, quiet character studies in his seventh film for Sayles, but the real find is Martinez, who is terrific as the sweet-natured girl Noelle, tired of her mother's vagrancy and succession of boyfriends. Sayles also picks wonderful locations for his stories, and the Alaskan backdrops and fishing communities here are beautiful and evocative (although since I spent my honeymoon in the winter in British Columbia, I'm kinda biased in that regard). Beautifully photographed in Juneau and the North Pacific by Haskell Wexler.

Poetry in the Last Frontier

[Ziglet_mir · 10/10 · 30 January 2012]

Before 1999 John Sayles had already brought himself into fame as one of the biggest names in Independent filmmaking. He has found his niche in writing for the screen and directing, yet he receives mediocre attention to what density his films carry. My all-time favorite film, Matewan (1987), is also by Sayles, and in Limbo, he has done something incredible bringing us a true-to-heart narrative in a small Alaskan town.

From the first moments of picture; of salmon restlessly waiting to find a place to go, until the heart-throbbing and hard-hitting ending we examine sub texts between the characters and their past. While the beginning may take a bit to set up shop on where Sayles exactly plans to take us, he does it methodically weaving dialog in and out of shots; interlocking sentence after sentence between different characters while at the same time making a point.

The Alaskan wilderness is a perfect setting because nature is unpredictable and Juneau (among other places) is one of the few areas in which all roads lead to virtually nowhere. Meanwhile, Sayles is just prepping us to realize we too as viewers of this narrative, are in Limbo. David Strathairn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Vanessa Martinez deliver wonderful performances that from the beginning reveal their character's interesting pasts. Strathairn seems lost ever since a boating accident that took two friends, and has never gone fishing since while Mastrantonio is a club singer constantly on the move to find a living and a place to keep her and her daughter happy. And finally Martinez is the confused teenager also lost for who she may be and where she belongs. She has a drifting relationship with her mother (Mastrantonio) and finds comfort when talking to Strathairn's character at work.

When the three are kept on an Alaskan island with nothing but the clothes on their back, a new element is subtly brought in when Martinez finds a long lost diary of a stranger. She begins reading passages by night as we delve into another world; a lost perspective that is incredibly poetic and raw with emotion.

As the backdrop strengthens we are soon deep into Sayles' fantastically created narrative. We think we know where the story is going, but right when you think you know the answer Sayles takes us in the complete opposite direction. It is unconventional storytelling and a film that brings us one of the greatest endings in cinema history.

The most frustrating ending in the world

[jbels · 7/10 · 7 June 1999]

While any John Sayles movie is better than most movies out there, Limbo simply has the most frustrating ending in the world. The film starts to unravel halfway through, when the main characters are stuck on an island. But this ironically is when the true story starts to build. Mr. Sayles decides to spin 180 degrees into a suspense thriller. And while he seems to be giving his audience a lot of credit, the ending feels like he does not take responsibility for his characters. I have never heard an audience get so upset (which, on second thought, may be worth the price of admission).

huh?

[rupie · 4/10 · 30 November 2000]

[possible spoiler] Oh dear. I guess I have to be the turd in the punchbowl again and offer a contrarian view to the encomia of praise for this portentous exercise. What we have here appears to be a rather mundane soap opera about troubled people with dark secrets which, halfway through, transforms itself presto-chango into a survival-movie-cum-crime-drama. Another flick which, forgive me, can't seem to decide what it wants to be. And the truncated, I'm-not-going-to-tell-you-what-happened ending is to me an egregious abuse of the filmmaker's power and an affront to the viewer. Maltin must have been on drugs when he gave this one 3.5 stars. Hey, call me a philistine, but save your money and rent Cool Hand Luke again.

Refreshing antidote to summer crap

[SKG-2 · 10/10 · 30 June 1999]

After being disappointed by NOTTING HILL and STAR WARS:THE PHANTOM MENACE(though there are good things in both), and suffering through THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER, I really needed a good movie to lift me up again, and John Sayles' latest does the job. LIMBO is one of the best movies I've seen this year, with all the usual Sayles virtues; complex themes, intelligence, three-dimensional characters, believable dialogue, and excellent use of location. Within the first five minutes of the film, I was laughing not just at the humor(people who say Sayles is without humor are missing something) but in recognition of the real people who occupy the screen.

Sayles movies tend towards two types; his ensemble movies(RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN, MATEWAN, EIGHT MEN OUT, CITY OF HOPE, LONE STAR) and stories which follow only a few people(LIANNA, PASSION FISH, THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH). LIMBO starts out as if it's an ensemble film, but gradually turns into the second type by narrowing its focus to just three characters; Joe(David Strathairn), the handyman with a dark past, Donna(Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), the road-weary singer, and Noelle(Vanessa Martinez), her resentful daughter, when they get stuck in the Alaskan wild. Some may feel this is two movies in one, and two unconnected movies at that, but the key to the second is buried in the first; when a wealthy businessman hoping to lure the tourist trade talks about taking theme parks to the next step - allowing people to live through their own adventure. That is what Joe, Donna, and Noelle do, and perhaps the businessman would be surprised at the result. But maybe not.

One other hallmark of Sayles films is the performances. Strathairn is a Sayles regular, but this is the first time he's been in the starring role, and this is his best performance yet. You can see how his fatalism can be cheering in everyday life and yet discouraging when faced with desperate circumstances, and how his knowledge of survival skills comes at a price; these are skills he hoped he'd left behind after quitting fishing. It's nice to see Mastrantonio back in a lead role again, and she sings quite well too. She even gets to act while singing(watch the look on her face when Noelle walks out during her concert). But the surprise here is Martinez. This is only her second film(she played the younger version of Elizabeth Pena in LONE STAR), but she brings a complex emotional power to a stereotypical role. This is someone who truly has seen too much, and you hurt for her, especially during the diary scenes.

One last thought; the controversial ending. I can understand why some people feel it's a cheat and don't like it, and don't think any less of them. I do feel, however, it fits the movie.

good performances, ending blows

[matt-194 · 6/10 · 21 January 2000]

David Strathairn has been a favorite of mine for a long time and this movie does nothing to tarnish it. Mary Mastrantonio certainly performs excellently and Kris Kristofferson is as good as he always is. But the ending is exactly as I feared it would be--given the title. Too bad, because it was otherwise an excellent movie.

Bulsht ending

[jherrick23 · 1/10 · 19 July 2020]

Waiting for a story to come to a finish. No finish. Just blank screen. Dont watch