The City of No Limits (original Spanish title: En la ciudad sin límites) has a mysterious-sounding title, and indeed it's strong on atmosphere and set-up. In its opening scenes, the film sets up an extremely intriguing premise: an elderly and apparently seriously ill man named Max is obsessed with getting in touch with a mysterious "Rancel." He's admitted to a hospital for surgery, but even with his wife and sons around him, he insists that something is wrong, confiding to his son Victor that he doesn't trust the doctors, their medicine, or even his own family.

It's the start of an interesting puzzle, as the sympathetic Victor first tries to determine if his father's paranoia is based in fact or is just a symptom of his illness, and then later tries to find the truth based on a few scanty clues. The film overall doesn't live up to the promise of its opening half-hour, though. The middle portion of the overly long 125-minute film sags, as far too long a time passes before any new information is presented or the introductory puzzles are advanced.

This gap is filled mainly by depictions of the conflicts within the family, whether it's Victor's attraction to Carmen, the wife of one of his brothers, or the bitterness between another brother and his ex-wife, with also a hint of infighting about the family business. With a considerable number of secondary characters involved in these sub-plots but not in the main story of Max and Victor, it's easy to lose track of who's who. What's more, none of this really ends up mattering at all; along with many other intriguing elements from the start of the film, they're just red herrings in a plot that turns out to have few surprises. It's really a fair-to-middling family drama brushed with a thriller flavor.

Despite its weaknesses, though, The City of No Limits remains a watchable and, overall, reasonably entertaining film. The solid performances of the cast are a plus here; they're all believable, and Leonardo Sbaraglia does a nice job of suggesting to the audience how he's wavering between just humoring his father and genuinely believing in a conspiracy. Similarly, Fernando Fernán Gómez is convincing as the elderly and ailing Max; are his mysterious behavior and cryptic comments due to senility or is he all too aware of what's going on around him?

What works best in The City of No Limits is how the film looks and sounds. The musical soundtrack is always strongly present, guiding the mood of the scene or becoming the main element in it. The sense of being lost and alienated that Max feels in the hospital, and that Victor feels in his attempts to navigate Paris with a minimal command of French, is captured quite well; The City of No Limits does at least have a good sense of place.

The DVD

Video

The City of No Limits appears with an attractive anamorphic widescreen transfer, with the image presented in its correct 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The picture is clear, with natural-looking colors and a good level of detail. Moderate to heavy edge enhancement appears in some scenes, but fortunately not all; similarly, some print flaws are scattered through the film, but are minimally noticeable. The contrast is occasionally a little heavy-looking, but it's never overdone, and in any case may very well have been an artistic choice. In the end, there are enough little things to keep the transfer from getting four stars for video, but all in all, it's quite pleasing to the eye.

I'm pleased to report that the subtitles are optional; viewers also have the choice of either English or Spanish subtitles. The English subtitles offer a good translation of the dialogue.

Audio

The Spanish Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is outstanding, making excellent use of all the channels to create an immersive and engaging audio experience. The dialogue is clear, crisp, and well balanced, but it's the music that really catches the ear, so to speak, with how great it sounds. Considering that the music plays a significant role in creating the ambiance of the film, and that the soundtrack is nicely done, the solid 5.1 track certainly benefits the film a great deal.

A dubbed English 2.0 track is also available, but it's pretty bad, and I'd recommend avoiding it. To begin with, it has none of the depth and great surround ambiance that the 5.1 track, but more than that, the voice acting is very weak compared to the real actors. Some of the voices really don't match well at all with how the original sounds, as well. Just ignore this track and go for the Spanish 5.1, with subtitles if needed.

Extras

There are no special features here. The menus are nicely designed and easy to navigate, though.

Final thoughts

The City of No Limits does a reasonable job of wrapping a family drama in a thriller packaging, creating a watchable film with the aid of interesting cinematography and effective music. It doesn't have the dramatic payoff that the gripping opening scenes would suggest, though, so overall this is a film that's low on the rewatchability scale. I'll give it a positive "rent it" rating.