The Darjeeling Limited
You either get Wes Anderson or you don't. His films, which include the cult hit "Rushmore," as well as "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" and "The Royal Tenenbaums," tend to draw as much criticism as they do praise.And his latest, "The Darjeeling Limited," is no different.
While this is arguably a little warmer and more dramatic than the others, "Darjeeling" is still rather quirky and goofy. And Anderson's continual use of overprivileged, often spoiled-rotten characters, does make it hard to relate to them at times.
Here, the focus is on the three wealthy Whitman brothers, who have a strained relationship at best. But they've agreed to take a train trip across India to reconcile and reconnect with each other.
The organizer is the rather bossy Francis (Owen Wilson), who's concealing some nasty facial and head injuries under bandages. Then there's kleptomaniac Peter (Adrien Brody), who has recently discovered he's going to be a father, and would-be novelist Jack (Jason Schwartzman), who has a love-hate relationship with an ex-girlfriend. And they're all clearly running away from something, especially Jack.
Whether you will enjoy this movie depends on your tolerance for Anderson's unique sensibilities. There is a heavy-handed bit of symbolism at the end, though arguably he's doing that to prove a point and spoof other like-minded movies. And he also knows how to use music to help create a mood (the Kinks figure prominently, as does Indian soundtrack composer Satyajit Ray).
To augment the film, theaters will be also showing a 13-minute short, "Hotel Chevalier," which helps explain the strained relationship between Jack and his ex-girlfriend, played by Natalie Portman.
"The Darjeeling Limited" is rated R for strong sexual language (profanity), drug content (misuse and abuse of prescription medicines), violence (brawling, and child-in-peril elements), a brief sex scene and brief partial female nudity. Running time: 92 minutes.
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