The Limits of Control (2009)

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writer:

Jim Jarmusch (written by)

Release Date:

28 May 2009 (Germany)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

For every way in, there is another way out.

Plot:

The story of a mysterious loner, a stranger in the process of completing a criminal job. |

Plot Keywords:

Very Little Dialogue | Mystery Man | Spy | Woman Wearing Glasses | Female Nudity

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Isaach De Bankolé	...	Lone Man
Alex Descas	...	Creole
Jean-François Stévenin	...	French
Óscar Jaenada	...	Waiter
Luis Tosar	...	Violin
Paz de la Huerta	...	Nude
Tilda Swinton	...	Blonde
Youki Kudoh	...	Molecules
John Hurt	...	Guitar
Gael García Bernal	...	Mexican
Hiam Abbass	...	Driver
Bill Murray	...	American
Héctor Colomé	...	Second American
María Isasi	...	Flamenco Club Waitress
Norma Yessenia Paladines	...	Flight Attendant

Also Known As:

No Limits No Control (USA) (closing credits title)

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic nudity and some language.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English | Spanish | Hebrew | French | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | New Zealand:M | Portugal:M/12 | Japan:PG12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Finland:K-11 | Mexico:B15 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Netherlands:9

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Focus Features

Trivia:

Isaach De Bankolé exchanges matchboxes throughout the film with 'Le Boxeur' (The Boxer) written on them, the name of his character in his other film White Material (2009).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the Lone Man has passed the last picture in the museum during his first visit, the camera can be seen slightly reflected in the glass of the picture frame.

Quotes:

Blonde: Are you interested in films, by any chance? I like really old films. You can really see what the world looked like, thirty, fifty, a hundred years ago. You know the clothes, the telephones, the trains, the way people smoked cigarettes, the little details of life...

Movie Connections:

Edited into "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Watchmen/Shuttle/12 (#1.2)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Omens and Portents I: The Driver

Jim, next time you get a midlife crisis, buy a Harley like the rest of us

I think I can somehow imagine what Jarmusch was trying to deliver with this - some sort of an existentialistic feeling of being abandoned in this world, and how arts and music etc. reflect our world-view and life in general. May have worked in theory, but definitely not in practice. To me, Jim Jarmusches works are all about cutting the technical nonsense to the minimum, and replacing it with powerful inner depth, such as interesting and multileveled characters - this one seemed to be the other way around.

The whole thing smelt like new wave and Godard ten miles away, with the whole style, and all the references to it (for example the Spanish girl holding the gun to Bankolé's face was almost exact reference to Godard's Made in U.S.A.) - and I didn't like the scent of it one bit. It was superficial, and didn't evoke any feelings in me. It was like Jarmusch was trying to speak with a language that wasn't his own. And the whole anti-capitalist "black James Bond" theme came as just naive to me.

About the only things that left me a good taste in my mouth, was the feeling of loneliness and emptiness that it delivered, plus John Hurt's short appearance with his monologue with the Kaurismäki- reference. That's about it, and even the mood was almost ruined by the two-pence Neil Young that kept on howling on the back.

Never would have believed to say this about a Jarmusch movie, but it was a huge disappointment.