The Limey

Funny, touching, and as effortlessly assured, in its own relatively low budget way, as Out of Sight, this consistently imaginative, comic crime movie milks the fish-out-of-water theme for all it is worth, and then some. Stamp is superb as the ageing Cockney ex-con whose investigations into his daughter's death in LA lead him to surprise the locals not only with his (wonderfully OTT) rhyming slang, but with his hard-man resilience and ingenuity; moreover, he's given sterling support by Fonda (who as a rock impresario out of his depth in murky water inspires some lovely in-jokes about '60s counter-culture), Newman and Guzman (not, for once, typecast). Lem Dobbs' script is witty; Ed Lachman's images and Cliff Martinez' music are perfectly in keeping with the light, relaxed mood; and Soderbergh's customary playfulness with the narrative deftly underlines Stamp's obsession. A joy.