{"id":8799,"date":"2009-08-04T16:50:44","date_gmt":"2009-08-04T23:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=8799"},"modified":"2020-12-12T00:33:02","modified_gmt":"2020-12-12T07:33:02","slug":"beyond-the-limit-1983","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=8799","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Limit (1983)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;An affair always involves a few lies.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Poster-196x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-57268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Poster-196x300.png 196w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Poster-670x1024.png 670w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Poster-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Poster-177x270.png 177w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Poster.png 715w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA half-Paraguayan doctor (Richard Gere) involved with revolutionaries finds his loyalties divided when a scheme to kidnap an American diplomat goes awry, and his acquaintance &#8212; an &#8220;honorary British consul&#8221; (Michael Caine) &#8212; is accidentally taken instead.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bob Hoskins Films<\/li>\n<li>Infidelity<\/li>\n<li>Kidnapping<\/li>\n<li>Michael Caine Films<\/li>\n<li>Revolutionariess<\/li>\n<li>Richard Gere Films<\/li>\n<li>South and Central America<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis psycho-political thriller, based on Graham Greene&#8217;s 1973 novel <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Honorary_Consul\"><em>The Honorary Consul<\/em><\/a>, is a dull disappointment. Its most egregious problem is the awful central miscasting of Richard Gere: we never believe he&#8217;s either half-Paraguayan or half-British (his pseudo-English-accent is annoyingly inconsistent), nor do we particularly understand anything else about what makes him tick. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Gere.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Gere.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1829\" height=\"993\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57271\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Gere.png 1829w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Gere-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Gere-1024x556.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Gere-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Gere-768x417.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Gere-1536x834.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Gere-497x270.png 497w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1829px) 100vw, 1829px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>He devotes himself to caring for the sick, for instance, yet callously beds Caine&#8217;s new young wife (Elpidia Carrillo) without much concern for the feelings of either party involved. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Carrillo2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Carrillo2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1817\" height=\"983\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57277\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Carrillo2.png 1817w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Carrillo2-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Carrillo2-1024x554.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Carrillo2-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Carrillo2-768x415.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Carrillo2-1536x831.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Carrillo2-499x270.png 499w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1817px) 100vw, 1817px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, his co-stars &#8212; with the noticeable exception of Caine &#8212; are equally unconvincing. Carrillo does little more than bare her bosom and simulate sex with Gere, while Bob Hoskins &#8212; star of director John Mackenzie&#8217;s previous film, <em>The Long Good Friday<\/em> (1980) &#8212; struggles with maintaining a South American accent in his underdeveloped role as a police chief who is rightly suspicious of Gere&#8217;s involvement in the kidnapping. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Hoskins.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Hoskins.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1823\" height=\"985\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57272\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Hoskins.png 1823w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Hoskins-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Hoskins-1024x553.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Hoskins-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Hoskins-768x415.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Hoskins-1536x830.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Hoskins-500x270.png 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1823px) 100vw, 1823px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the story itself lacks conviction: although the revolutionaries are presumably meant to be somewhat sympathetic, we never get to know them well enough to relate to their passionate cause; as a result, when they bungle the kidnapping job, they come across &#8212; somewhat incongruously &#8212; as merely bumbling fools. It doesn&#8217;t help matters any that all the characters speak English, despite the story taking place in South America; I find it particularly egregious to watch non-native-English speakers conversing in English rather than Spanish when &#8220;real life&#8221; would dictate that they speak in the latter (c.f. Hitchcock&#8217;s turgid <em>Topaz<\/em> for another representative example of this irritating and demeaning Hollywood tendency). The sole redeeming feature of <em>Beyond the Limit<\/em> is Caine, who brings depth and humanity to his role as an alcoholic has-been who recognizes the limits of his usefulness (tragically, he knows he&#8217;s not worth ransoming); his fine performance simply highlights the emptiness of the rest of the film. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1821\" height=\"995\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57275\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine.png 1821w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine-1024x560.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine-768x420.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine-1536x839.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine-494x270.png 494w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1821px) 100vw, 1821px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Michael Caine as the &#8220;honorary consul&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1833\" height=\"987\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57274\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine2.png 1833w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine2-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine2-1024x551.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine2-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine2-768x414.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine2-1536x827.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Beyond-the-Limit-Caine2-501x270.png 501w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1833px) 100vw, 1833px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though diehard Caine fans will be curious to see it just for his performance. Listed as a Sleeper in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0085236\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/beyond-the-limit-1983\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1983\/09\/30\/movies\/film-beyond-the-limit-from-graham-greene.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.citizencaine.org\/films\/honorary-consul.shtml\">Citizen Caine Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;An affair always involves a few lies.&#8221; Synopsis: A half-Paraguayan doctor (Richard Gere) involved with revolutionaries finds his loyalties divided when a scheme to kidnap an American diplomat goes awry, and his acquaintance &#8212; an &#8220;honorary British consul&#8221; (Michael Caine) &#8212; is accidentally taken instead. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Bob Hoskins Films Infidelity Kidnapping Michael Caine Films Revolutionariess Richard Gere Films South and Central America Review: This psycho-political thriller, based on Graham Greene&#8217;s 1973 novel The Honorary Consul, is&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=8799\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8799"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57279,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8799\/revisions\/57279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}