The Darjeeling Limited

Reviewed by:
Pete Hammond

Wes Anderson, the quirky writer/director of such oddball surprises as Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, is back with his stock players Owen Wilson and cowriter Jason Schwartzman, adding newcomer to the Wes tribe Adrien Brody starring as three estranged brothers who use a train trip across India to mend fences and bond with each other. However, as they wend down the picaresque tracks, their attempt at renewing relationships goes off course when they are stuck alone somewhere in the desert with "11 suitcases, a printer, and a laminating machine." Once this happens, their sibling revelry takes on unexpected new turns. Along the way vets of Anderson films turn up, including Bill Murray as a loopy passenger and Anjelica Huston as the mother who abandoned them for the spiritual allure of Indian life. If you're not a fan of the director's unique brand of idiosyncratic filmmaking, it may be an acquired taste. But for us, The Darjeeling Limited is a wonderful mix of humor and humanity with vintage Wes Anderson at his finest and funniest, as he takes us on a soul-searching magical mystery tour. The three stars play off each other like they are in some kind of old Marx Brothers movie (entirely intentional), but some of it is also poignantly prophetic, at least in the case of Wilson, whose recent alleged suicide attempt is eerily mirrored in the character he plays. In a smart marketing ploy, you can go to iTunes and download a companion short subject set in Paris, Hotel Chevalier, with Schwartzman and a enticingly unclothed Natalie Portman. It has little to do with the feature, but it's fun to watch anyway.