Limbo movie review & film summary (1999)

Joe has a half-brother, named Bobby (Casey Siemaszko), who talks him into crewing his boat on a "business trip." Joe innocently invites Donna and Noelle along. The purpose of the trip is far from innocent. After narrowly surviving a storm, Joe guides the boat into an islet where few boats ever come. And then there are more unexpected developments, and three of them (Joe, Donna and Noelle) find themselves castaways on an island far from anyone else.

What I liked so much about this story structure is that it confounded my expectations at every step. I expected the story to stay in Juneau, but it didn't. When it took a turn toward adventure, I thought the threat would come from nature--but it comes from men. After the three characters are stranded, I expected--I don't know what, maybe Swiss Family Robinson-style improvisation.

But Sayles gradually reveals his buried theme, which is that in a place like the Alaskan wilderness you can never be sure what will happen next. And that optimism, bravery and ingenuity may not be enough. Some of the best dialogue passages in the film involve Joe's quiet realism. He refuses to raise false hopes. And of course even the hope of rescue comes with a hidden barb: Will they be found by friends, or death? The movie leaves conventional plot structure behind, and treks off into the wilderness itself. There's even a story within the story, based on a journal Noelle finds--and it contains a surprise, too. Then comes the ending. Watching the screen, I felt confident that I knew exactly what would happen. What, and how, and why. And I was wrong. The more you think about the way "Limbo" ends, the more you realize that any other ending would betray the purpose of the story. Sayles has started with a domestic comedy, and led us unswervingly into the heart of darkness.

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