The Limits of Control (2009)

good back-story, and good acting

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The Lone Man (Isaach De Bankolé) is given instruction on a mysterious mission. He meets various people who gives him various mercurial messages.Writer/director Jim Jarmusch has created a movie of beautiful style but with little substance. It is lovingly shot. The plot would fit comfortably on the back of an envelop and the dialog on a 3-hole page, double spaced and on one side. The movie luxuriates on nothing scenes. It uses silence as a special effects and convoluted messages as insightful. My biggest problem with this is that it uses great actors as nothing more than cardboard cutouts. In the end, there is nothing here but a failed art experiment.

...since most people don't. To me it seems like a true piece of art: not necessarily headed anywhere, offering infinite ways of seeing it. You might say it is the story of a killer who follows clues and talks to people until finally facing off against the bad guy. Seen this way you might say the basic plot is like a James Bond. Then again it is so barren and those "clues" are so utterly random and counter-intuitive that it is more like the exact opposite of a Bond. A naked woman and he just doesn't want to sleep with her? That might be "professional" or possibly even "realistic" for a killer - Bond would never ever (not) do that. From this perspective this "Bond" is completely deconstructed, thus commenting on the nature of movies as well as art in general. No one I talked to saw any similarity to a Bond movie. However: the "clues" in a common James Bond'ish movie usually do not make any sense either. We can easily follow a story where the agent suddenly flies to Miami because a guy we never heard about supposedly lives there. Now we heard that our protagonist needs that unknown guy to decode the transponder code for the sub-nuclear particle reverser - the super weapon. Nonsense like that is commonplace in movies. Protagonists just use keywords to travel from here to there. This movie however insists on pointing that out. "Caution: this plot is based on keywords that do not make any sense in the slightest". Well not THAT literally - almost though. Although the "keyword plot" is so common it usually goes with an illusion of logical coherence, continuity and sense. This illusion is rejected in this case. What you got are the bare bones of a common movie along with a lot of commenting on art, how it is made and how communication works. Unfortunately most people do not feel like the movie communicates anything. It rather feels like this one takes them for fools - which is why it is unpopular. Maybe it went too far. It's almost as rejecting as Kubricks 2001. However: it does NOT feature a 3 minute black screen intermezzo. 10 out of 10 from me.

For hardcore cinephiles who seek art movies here is a visual, cerebral and musical feast. After seeing a lot of negative reviews on this absolutely fascinating creation I feel that if one is patient enough to sit through the great, carefully planned wonderful visuals accompanied by a mystique sound track another spectrum unravels before you and the message is crystal clear. Watch for a second time and everything starts thrown unto you. Captivating cinematography, art direction, story (or lack of the same), splendid acting and a lot of mystery .Very cerebral theme with lots of fill in the blanks that has to take place within oneself, this one is in my top ten. A lone man focused on his mission guided by the unseen seeks his target. He is apathetic to guns , music , sex , art , Bohemianism , mobiles ( technology ) and science ( the seemingly corrupting influences offered by the market philosophy world , in its own tainted versions that do with us day in day out ) . The unnamed man is the anti-thesis of the mainstream James Bond. He seldom speaks , dresses up immaculately , practices tai-chi and never " sleeps" even with a voluptuous naked woman beside him .He does not speak Spanish in Spain where the narrative unfolds . Veiled criticism on mainstream cinema ( the glamorous lady with the clear umbrella who parts with the diamonds in a matchbox ) , fashion ( the see through rain coat and the splendid nudity of the nude girl that it reveals ) and the fountain head of all that one abhors which is the American capitalism ( the man in the self locked security chamber who liberally uses the f^$k word and unmistakable Yankee accent ) , the chamber into which the lone man diffuses in using his "imagination" . "Those who think they are big will end up in the cemetery and it is only dirt that awaits him" is the theme quote which is reserved for the big money manipulator .After having seen 'Dead man' in black and white featuring Johnny Depp which is another fine creation from Jim Jarmusch which also has the anti American capitalism as the core theme (or so i presume!!!) and now this , i would keenly await for his next project. A great movie experience with wonderful location and ambiance selection, this DVD is certainly one of my worthy treasures forever.

A film about nothing that keeps you on the edge of your seat; gotta be worth a watch? A man on a mission, full of purpose.A series of secret messages.A small section of a much larger picture that we are lucky enough to be able to view.If you are sick of the predictability of films in the present day - and have that 'Generic/clairvoyant' ability to second guess every other action in a film, then this is for you.It WILL fool you, but you may fall in love with it for that.A worthy watch, but an opinion splitting flick.Regardless - it gets my vote.8/10 Seano Out!