Beyond the City Limits (2001)

Touches You

Brilliant and touching

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Three women outsmart unsavory men who try to cheat them out of their take in an almost-botched casino heist. Bad Acting, Bad Characters and poor filmmaking ruin "Beyond the City Limits" and from the first scene of the film we know what kind of movie we're getting and it's not good. (0/10)

1. This is not an action flick.2. This is not a crime thriller.If you can swallow those up front, I think you might enjoy the film. As best as I can put it, this story is a character study of three loser women and the loser men they hang out with in LA. The three women, realizing that their lives are nothing but sound & fury, band together to change things, although they're not quite sure how. As the story progresses, so does their desperation and ultimately their resolve to pull off a crazy heist which they hope will get them beyond the city limits and free of their loser lifestyles forever.Although the story is interesting, make no mistake, the principal focus is on the characters. Most of the film focuses on the 3 friends and their funny, sad & angry moments, building a tone of quiet frustration which comes to a climax in the last 20 minutes when they decide to go through with the crazy heist. But the first 70 minutes of the film is more like "Stand By Me", the adult female version. I think if you view the film that way, you'll really love it.The acting of these 3 main characters is fantastic. There's not a lot of fireworks and histrionics, but instead you get a good, solid, realistic portrayal of real people. Natassja Kinski shines as the free spirit who, for some reason, can never get free of circumstances. Jennifer Esposito is equally convincing as a feisty woman whose life is winding down way too soon. And Alison Hannigan gives a great performance as the kid whose life has imploded before she can even get off the ground. I give another round of applause to Sophie B. Hawkins who shows that she can act as well as sing (not to mention wear a vinyl cat suit better than anyone I've ever seen. homina homina, "damn I wish she was my lover").By the way, don't kill yourself looking for a widescreen version; I believe this was filmed in 4:3 which was annoying to me at first, but as the film progressed, I realized how well director Gigi Gaston made artistic use of the full screen format to convey a feeling of both claustrophobia and tightness between the 3 friends. I'd like to think it was planned that way (but if not, heck, someone did a great job of pan & scan). Gigi Gaston did a great job with this.There are some great comedic moments if you're into dark comedy. Some of the situations are so bizarre they're hilarious. And I really think the dog "Woody" deserves an Oscar nom.

Not the best movie ever made actually The only thing thats good about it is Alyson Hannigan.The movie is dark and a bit univentfull untill the end.Buffy fans might be shocked to Hear Alyson swearing.The movie isnt made any better by Alexis's Russian accent.

To tell the truth, I have mixed feelings about Beyond the City Limits. It had its high and low points, its strong and weak moments. It isn't the best indie film, but it also isn't the worst.Beyond the City Limits is about two Russian men, Sergei (Brian McCardie) and Yuri (Alexis Denisof), who try to pull off a casino heist with two crooked cops. Unfortunately, the two cops are killed in a shoot-out in a bar. The men need to find replacements soon.The other part of this film revolves around three women: Lexi (Alyson Hannigan), Helena (Jennifer Esposito), and Misha (Natassja Kinski). Lexi was dating Sergei before being thrown out of his apartment and their heist. Her friend, Misha, tags along. With the help of Helena, who recently moved out on her husband (Todd Field), and another man (Steve Harris), they try to pull off the heist themselves.The main reason I bought Beyond the City Limits in the first place was to see Alyson Hannigan and especially Alexis Denisof in very different roles than those they play on TV. I was surprised at some of the things they did in this film (Lexi shoots heroin, Yuri gets oral sex in an alley). They were the films main high points.If you like indie films, you might like this one. If you're a fan of either Alyson Hannigan or Alexis Denisof, you will love this film. The ending seemed kind of... fake. I don't know what it is, but I saw it coming. Otherwise, this is a decent film that deserves some sort of audience.