5/10/09

The Limits of Control

So, I had no idea Jim Jarmusch had a new movie out. I went to the theatre tonight resigned to see just about anything because I just felt like sitting in a movie and the only one playing around the time I was there was The Limits of Control. Let me see what this is about I thought. I read the little blurb....from acclaimed director Jim Jarmusch.... that's as far as I got. Holy shit. So of course I bought a ticket amazed it wasn't sold out or there wasn't a line. The theatre was pretty empty actually. Until a woman and a man came in late and of course had to sit next to me. As the movie was playing the woman had to rustle through her plastic bag, and not being able to find what she wanted, she felt free to rustle away till she found her chips or whatever food she had to eat. Then was drinking out of a glass bottle that she proceeded to drop, luckily it didn't break but it made some nice loud clinking and banging sounds on the way down, and then finally as all this activity exhausted her, she feel asleep and was audibly snoring. The man never bothered to nudge her awake. So yeah. Oh, how was the movie? Eh. There was very little dialogue, very little action. Alot of silence and long film shots (cinematography by Christopher Doyle).  It seems almost Lynchian except without the anxiety and neuroses. Perhaps I wasn't in the right frame of mind and will like it better on second watching, but this seems self indulgent and lacking some of the raw energy of some of his other movies. I don't like all of his movies after all (re: Dead Man, Coffee and Cigarettes) so this might be added to the list. The title is borrowed from a William Burroughs essay but has nothing to do with the movie's content. The film centers on The Lone Man, a calculated, controlled killer who is never distracted from his mission. The camera follows him the whole movie while he meets various connections to collect obscure, cryptic clues. The viewer remains in the dark throughout. We're supposed to focus on the "characters" and music and panning film shots but I don't think its interesting enough to sustain attention. At least for me tonight. I should probably give it a second watch before officially giving it thumbs down.





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