#006 - The Limits of Control (2009)

Director: Jim Jarmusch

Writer: Jim Jarmusch

Runtime: 116 min

I wish I could say more about this movie. I really do. I like Jim Jarmusch, I think Broken Flowers and Coffee & Cigarettes are both terrific movies. They're hilarious, and I think Jarmusch himself even put in a solid comedic turn in the Wayne Wang films Smoke and Blue in the Face. But The Limits of Control is not funny. Not really, at least. It's sparse. The lead (Isaach de Bankole) barely speaks any words and is never named. It's a definite aesthetic, and I feel it somewhat mirrors Mulholland Drive, except there's not as much payoff.  Whereas Mulholland Drive was metaphorical and certainly had as many interpretations as viewers, it didn't seem like there was much of any underlying tale to be inferred from The Limits of Control--a hired assassin travels through Spain to eventually find his target, throughout the course of his journey meeting mysterious cosmopolitans for single-sitting conversations, trading tiny matchboxes and cryptic messages. It's certainly interesting to see the cameos (Gael Garcia Bernal, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt) but their conversations are just as cryptic as the handwritten symbols, about art, science, music. As a vignette-based piece, it's mildly interesting, as a feature narrative, it doesn't really LEAD anywhere. I don't mean to claim that I could do better, but I believe Jarmusch could do better, and has. It's not a horrible movie, just one that I wouldn't necessarily recommend.