"Limbo" (1999)

Why did I wait this long to watch this movie. It is BRILLIANT. And solidifying my already high respect for director John Sayles. We all should be lucky to think about making something this good.

Similar to most of Sayles’ movies, they are haunted. People who’re usually the salt of the Earth who are put to extraordinary circumstances. Usually in random violence, but not without wit and dark humor.

The story is of a mother and daughter who have been drifting through Alaska, a town in transition from a fishing town to a tourist town. Most of the local fisherman are leaving, kicking and screaming. But the new developers have plans for the town. Within the town lore is a man named Joe Gastineau (David Straitharn) a deeply haunted man, who lives in solitude until he comes across these two. Then the real adventure begins.

Sayles is a storyteller in the traditional sense. You get the feeling that you could sit around a fire and listen to his stories. A modern day Mark Twain with wit and clever moments that come together as a story. All the characters in the movie are EXACTLY how you want them to be. Dynamic, heart wrenching, and truthful. You know people like this. People who survive in the fray.  What is amazing about this script, is that it intertwines a lot of truisms within stories that relate to the core of this story. Yet it does not in the least feel staged or fake. It forces you to ask what you would do. And the solution is never as simple as you think. This movie boils down the fundamentals of human existence. That nature will continue as we die. The answers are complicated. And poetic. However, it is not a abstract movie. It is easily accessible, as Sayles has the talent of doing. He knows the terrain he walks, inside and out. And it’s beautiful. And more importantly, there hasn’t been another movie like this. That’s how good it is.

People are going to be pissed at the ending, but...it's a great journey.