To the Limit

Anna Nicole Smith got her first major “acting” role in the sequel to the execrable DaVinci's War (1993), a self-serving project of Joey Travolta, John’s older brother. If we take an optimistic view, it might seem that understanding the plot of To the Limit requires knowledge of the previous film, but the truth is more prosaic: the film simply doesn’t make any sense. The narrative is scattered among several parties (Travolta, the Italian mafia, Anna Nicole Smith, an unhinged Vietnam veteran, a priest). In addition to that, there are several other constituent characters (Branscombe Richmond is given two lives, as killers in the service of the bad guy) and a heap of complicated storylines. However, the motivations of the vast majority of the characters are not clear at all, nor are their roles in the story. And that’s not to mention the fact that, with the exception of the need to regularly oscillate between the characters as dictated by the screenplay, the narrative does contain a single McGuffin or any other element that would push it forward. Of course, Anna Nicole stands out from the general chaos and parade of senseless acting performance thanks not only to her ridiculously sexual assets, which she shows off right from the beginning to the satisfaction of eager viewers. A much more essential aspect, however, is the dullness and awkwardness that pervade all of her scenes, especially the dialogue scenes.  I would seriously be interested in knowing whose idea it was to cast her in the role of a CIA agent (I would guess that it was one of the final mean-spirited jokes played by the spendthrift billionaire J. Howard Marshall) working undercover, i.e. a character whose essential features should be intelligence and resourcefulness, two aspects that are not in any way associated with the essentially passive and objectivised actress and which she is unable to portray. Nevertheless, the sequences with Anna Nicole Smith elevate this moronic mish-mash to the level of campy fun. But there are too few of them in the film to make it watchable entertainment. Even though the spectacular climax deserves a place in the pantheon of the most imbecilic sequences in the history of trash thanks to its stupidity, clichéd nature and excellent wow effect, it can’t stave off the feeling that it’s just a waste of and a squandered opportunity to make magnificent camp. All of this is made up for by Anna’s next film, her very own Die Hard, her magnum opus: Skyscraper. (16.08.2013)