The Limits of Control

American indie-king Jarmusch plays fast and loose with genres in this spoofish noir-cum-Bond thriller pastiche. The plot, featuring a Zen-like hit-man on a mission through the cafés and museums of Madrid, Seville and Almeria, is the shaggiest of shaggy-dog stories, but the real joy lies in the atmospheric photography and the welter of first-class cameos from a cast to die for. An altogether enjoyably eccentric, off-beat charmer made with the director’s characteristic deadpan whimsy.