Jarmusch’s ‘Limits of Control’ Trailer is Confusing in Cowboy Hats

Posted by Dr. Cole Abaius (cole.abaius@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 5, 2009

Since I quit sniffing baboon blood to get high, the only thing I have left that’s on par is this new trailer for Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control. It seems fairly par for the course considering the filmmaker’s track record. That also means that the division line, I assume, will be pretty standard – if you like Jarmusch, it’s time to giggle like a school girl, and if you don’t, it’s time to yawn, tilt your head to the side and mark its May 22nd release date as totally free day on your calendar.

Starring Issach De Bankole as a criminal of some sort engaged in a criminal act of some sort as well as Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, and Gael Garcia Bernal – the film (or at least the trailer) isn’t short on enigmatic phrases like, “among us, there are those of us who are not among us,” and “sometimes the reflection is far more present than the thing being reflected.” Physics be damned, the phrases are also spoken by velvet-voiced, slinky-sounding characters who bring a sort of dripping sensibility to everything that’s said.

Also, there’s a sweet amount of cowboy hats involved:

So yeah. Tough to know what to make of it. Jarmusch strikes me as the home-run pinch hitter of the film world – he swings for the fences, and strikes out a ton, but when he lets one fly it sails well out of the park. Unfortunately, that means that if you’re hoping for Coffee and Cigarettes you might end up getting Broken Flowers.

Trailer can be found in HD over at Apple. Thanks to The Playlist for the heads up.

What do you think of the first trailer for The Limits of Control?

Read more articles by Dr. Cole Abaius