Movie Review - The Limits of Control (2009)

Starring Isaach De Bankolé, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Gael García Bernal, and Bill Murray

Written and Directed by Jim Jarmusch

Edited 230am 5/21/09
Peer pressure forced me to head up to Philadelphia and watch some movie I had no desire to see earlier today. Despite the fact that I told my two "friends" (the quotation marks are there because I'm not sure I can forgive them for the two hours I wasted today) that I had read that the movie was horrible, I was suckered into going.

At first I thought I was maybe in some allergy-induced haze (as my allergies are hitting the peak of awfulness right about now) that was hindering my ability to fully concentrate...I would later realize that wasn't the case at all. I'd love to tell you what happens in this movie, but that would mean that I myself would have to create a story because there was no story here. I guess there's a guy who's some type of hit man who meets a bunch of different people and then kills Bill Murray for reasons unknown (spoilers be damned!).

This is a movie that if anyone tells you that they like it, they're lying to you because they want to look smart. It was ridiculously awful. I think that the film is trying to say that censorship of the arts is a bad thing (the film spends ample time discussing art, film, music, and dance)...but I could be totally wrong about that. Who the hell knows? The movie sure doesn't know what it's talking about.

Yes, the film actually looked nice cinematography-wise, and there were decent performances from Tilda Swinton and the main guy (Bankolé), but overall, it was just utter garbage.

Two people got up and walked out during the screening we saw if that tells you anything (although, admittedly, one came back in after being gone for 40 minutes...he didn't miss anything).

Part of me is happy I saw it, if only for the fact that I now feel I can force the two said "friends" to see something they have no desire to see...

EDITED---
I originally had this rated an 'F', but after seeing two other movies tonight (one in particular), I realized that this movie isn't nearly as bad as I thought it was. Still, it was no good, but it was not deserving of an 'F' if only for the cinematography and Tilda Swinton. Plus, the fact that I'm still thinking about it 12 hours later has to say something, right?

The RyMickey Rating: D-