Reviewed by
maroon5gurl88 on Mon February 18, 2008
Other than “The Darjeeling Limited” I have seen one other Wes Anderson movie and that was “The Royal Tenenbaums.” Maybe that film was just more accessible but I really enjoyed it. In watching Anderson’s latest effort I just didn’t connect with it as I did with the last movie and maybe it’s because I haven’t seen his other films. In watching the DVD I have to say that if you aren’t a Wes Anderson fan already or are attempting to make this your first foray into his movies I highly recommend watching some previous efforts before delving into this.
“The Darjeeling Limited” focuses on three American brothers who meet in India on a spiritual journey. There’s the controlling Francis (Own Wilson), daddy’s boy Peter (Adrien Brody) and skirt chaser Jack (Jason Schwartzman). It has been one year since the last time they spoke at their father’s funeral and what the other two brothers aren’t aware of is that Francis has concocted this trip to find their mother (Anjelica Huston) who has become a nun. In the process they find out how much they truly care about each other.
I must admit when the film was funny it really was hilarious. Certain scenes like when the brothers are swapping various Indian medications or when Peter and Francis get into a fight on the train and have to have Jack pepper spray them all made me laugh. The three actors also have an amazing chemistry and camaraderie between them that really gave the illusion that they were brothers. This was really evident when the brothers are trying to confide in each other and don’t want their problems being revealed, but once they all turn on each other it has hilarious results. I also have to applaud all the designers and the like who actually constructed the Darjeeling train. The set design is beautiful with a lot of vibrant colors and attention to detail that I found myself marveling at. I also loved the introduction of Natalie Portman in a cameo during the short film that accompanies the movie, “Hotel Chevalier.” Just a note be sure to watch the movie with the short film beforehand, there are things in the main film that you won’t understand if you don’t watch the short.
I really wanted to like this but just found myself not enjoying as much as I should of and maybe that’s because I’m not a Wes Anderson fan. The movie just seems to be a series of vignettes and adventures the characters have with a very flimsy core story. Now and then the characters will talk about why they are on the journey or their life beforehand but it never amounts to much. The opening short just seemed pretentious and maybe there was something I didn’t understand but I found myself just tuning out. It also doesn’t help that the film takes a very abrupt turn into drama when the brothers stumble upon a group of boys drowning and one ends up dead, it just took the movie into a whole new direction. The ending also seemed extremely abrupt. At the end I didn’t really want to watch anymore Wes Anderson movies but I’m willing to give this a second shot somewhere down the road.
The acting in this is top notch I must admit. Jason Schwartzman is an actor I always enjoy and watching him play the hapless loser in love, Jack was hilarious. I was also surprised to see how much I enjoyed Adrien Brody as the mild mannered Peter. I tend to Brody but never really have much to say and this time whenever he was on screen I paid attention. He was able to do the humor but also the drama and it came off seamlessly. I did enjoy Owen Wilson as Francis, the brother who almost died in a car crash and spends the whole movie swathed in bandages. He was able to do the humor extremely well but sometimes the dramatic parts weren’t his forte and you could tell.
The DVD has some very sparse bonus features and they are hit or miss depending on what you’re looking for. The film does have the option to play with or without the opening short film “Hotel Chevalier.” I do recommend you watch the short before as it allows the movie to make more sense. The one featurette on the DVD “Walking the Darjeeling Limited” shows how the train was constructed along with how various scenes were filmed. I did enjoy hearing about how the train was made but I was surprised there was no straight making-of feature that usually would do well on a film with this much depth. Other than that the DVD has the theatrical trailer along with trailers for several other movies including “Hitman,” “The Savages” and ‘Resurrecting the Champ.”
While I didn’t enjoy the movie I did love the characters and that’s something. If you’re looking for bonus material this DVD is sorely lacking but if you enjoyed the film or just enjoy Wes Anderson then be sure to pick up “The Darjeeling Limited” on February 26th.
