Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Limits of Control (2009) - Jarmusch hits career low with idea-bereft embarrassment

11/25/2018

The Limits of Control (2009) - Jarmusch hits career low with idea-bereft embarrassment

♥

+ Most Deserved Flop of the Year

A 1970's styled poster for Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control

A suit-wearing foreign man lands in Madrid, Spain. Always well-dressed, day by day, he meets mysterious people and does mysterious things, following an inscrutable agenda.

The Limits of Control is the 10th feature from Ohioan master writer/director Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man (1995)). As an admirer of Jarmusch's body of work, one goes along for a while here with cool Isaach De Bankolé (The Fifth Patient (2007)) to a Madrid café, to zen atmosphere and hipster-philosophizing strangers.
The film becomes involuntarily comical, as Jarmusch introduces Paz de la Huerta (Nail Polish (2006)) as an eternally nude sex kitten, - whatever is he going with this element? And from there The Limits of Control walks into deeper and deeper waters of embarrassment and the mindnumbingly boring. Small fragments of ideas are drawn out under a guitar-milling soundscape, as an abundance of stars appear for someone they greatly admire despite his project lacking any real structure or backbone here.
Stagnant shots that idolize Madrid fill out repetitive scenes, which promote Jarmusch's musician-ishly thin, existential philosophies. The Limits of Control is a very vaguely spun, pretentious double espresso of sleep-inducing hipster porridge, which hurts to watch for Jarmusch fans, as it is his worst film up to its release.

Related posts:

Jim Jarmusch: 2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Broken Flowers (2005) - Hip search for son and self with Jarmusch and Murray
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) - Pleasant, precious vignette sit-down with some wonderful people
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) - Whitaker serves ancient samurai justice in Jarmusch's cool treat
Dead Man (1995) - Jarmusch's bold, poetic, rich Americana masterpiece
Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Down by Law (1986) - Jarmusch's jailbreak movie is an independent character gem

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 1.9 mil. $
= Uncertain - but almost certainly a flop, and likely a mega-flop
[The Limits of Control was released 1 May (USA) and runs 116 minutes. Shooting took place in Spain, including Madrid. The film opened #41 to an 18k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, its 3rd biggest market, where it widened to 27 cinemas but never attained a higher rank, grossing 426k $ (22.4 % of the total gross). The biggest and 2nd biggest markets were Germany with 812k $ (42.7 %) and France with 302k $ (15.9 %). If the film was made on a small 5 mil. $ budget, it only returned 0.38 times its cost, making it a mega-flop. Roger Ebert gave the film a ½/4 star review, equal to its rating here. Jarmusch returned with Only Lovers Left Alive (2013). Bankolé returned in White Material (2009). The Limits of Control is rotten at 42 % with a 5.2/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

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Ray Liotta has died

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Philip Baker Hall has died

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William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

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11/25/2018

The Limits of Control (2009) - Jarmusch hits career low with idea-bereft embarrassment

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