The Gown Student Newspaper at Queen's University Belfast

REVIEW: The Limits of Control

Jim Jarmusch’s latest is not an overly enjoyable film by any stretch of the imagination; though filled with mystery and promise, the movie fails to hold its viewers’ attention towards an interesting end.

BY CONNOR DALY

An unnamed assassin ventures upon a mission to Spain where he spends his time drinking expressos and exchanging matchboxes with helpful strangers. Every agent is queerer than the last, yet arising little excitement in its audience; each matchbox contains a piece of paper showing vital information for our assassin, ‘Lone Man’, which he then revises before literally digesting.

The movie contains very little dialogue and certainly fails to spark enthusiasm in its viewer, watching the suited hitman walk aimlessly throughout Spanish streets until he orders his next two expressos in separate cups. Who exactly is the victim; why is the American (played by Bill Murray) wanted dead; there exists so many possibilities. However, disappointing is the fact that by the film’s end these answers remain half-answered.

‘The Limits of Control’ contains almost two hours of nothing but vague patterns and frustrating repetitions. “He who thinks he is bigger than the rest must go to the cemetery” is announced by numerous random characters. By far the most annoying is the ominous question from agents, “You don’t speak Spanish, no?”; a question sometimes not even answered by our static assassin, but met with an apathetic stare comparative to that of the film’s audience.

On paper the film is a hit, but unfortunately the excitement ends here. There merely exists a plot to the film, just random happenings before the quick assassination of an American in a Spanish desert fortress. An indifferent mood reigns as the credits come down on this indifferent film.

The Limits of Control is showing at QFT

www.queensfilmtheatre.com

Tags: Connor Daly, Gown, newspaper, QFT, qub, Queen's, queen's university, student, The Gown, The Limits of Control

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 13th, 2009 at 12:32 am and is filed under Arts + Ents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.