Which allows us the distance to say, whatever else anyone might tell you, the honesty with which he ends Limbo can't be faulted. And yet it's an ending that is anything but conventional. Left-field, off-beam, downright infuriating if you will, but a moment's reflection speaks volumes.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. We're on a forgotten corner of the Alaskan seaboard. Sayles regular David Strathairn is erstwhile fisherman Joe Gastineau, still blaming himself for the death of two friends. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is itinerant torch-singer Donna, on the rebound from yet another guy, dragging poor, diffident daughter Noelle (the impressive, Christina Ricci-alike Vanessa Martinez), from pillar to post. A mature romance beckons.

But think on the local fly-boy (Kris Kristofferson) whose pass at Donna is rebuffed and who has a past with Joe. Or Joe's ne'er-do-well half-brother (Casey Siemaszko), in town to beg a favour. Circumstance and skulduggery soon finds Joe, Donna and Noelle stranded on a remote island with no supplies and the weather closing in.

For a business where the illusion of risk is all, Sayles plays high stakes. The abrupt switch from beautifully observed love story - a sort of extended Raymond Carver - to brutal survivalist drama is sudden but skilfully done; from Altman sprawl to concentrated chamber piece. Sayles asks for faith to carry us over "from a nice quiet ride to mortal danger." Only the film's clear strengths offer a safety-net.

And all the more so at the climax where nothing exists on screen save our own emotional investment. Testimony then to the vivacity of Sayles' writing, his quiet directorial skill, and the commitment of his co-workers. (The film is handsomely shot by the veteran Haskell Wexler.) And the title? It's no sleight of hand in a film that is as much about human nature as Nature itself. Everyone's in a limbo of their own making: the townsfolk looking to Disney-fication; Joe and Donna, middle-aged and alone; and Noelle, who's taken to cutting herself to prove she's alive. On the island, the psychological assumes physical form, and only at the end is any kind of escape offered. Limbo earns its title, Sayles our respect.