Rated R. Click to view the trailer.
To say Wes Anderson's movies are quirky is like suggesting that turkey might go well with those mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce you've got sitting on the table. It's an unnecessary understatement, and it should be no surprise that like Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited bears the distinct Anderson touch: It's self-aware, quietly funny and touching with just a taste of the bizarre and magical. It also bears the distinct Anderson casting call, starring, among others, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray and Angelica Houston (although the latter are relegated to fairly tiny roles).
The three brothers, Francis (Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Schwartzman) set out on a spiritual journey roughly a year after their father's death. They have not dealt with their emotions and they tote their father's emotional and literal baggage (Louis Vuitton baggage... Pop must have been loaded) as they journey across the Subcontinent towards what they hope is peace and a reunion with their nun mother on the Indian "luxury" train, the Darjeeling Limited.
The three of them are each damaged in a physical or emotional way. Jack suffers from a broken heart, Peter fears his soon-to-born son will ruin his marriage and Francis, well he has a broken face. Their conflict and injuries threaten to derail (weak pun intended) their journey as they lie to each other, confide in one another, share medications, and bicker about who should wear the pants - I mean belt - in the family.
Owen Wilson's bi-polar character takes on a new realism given his real-life suicide attempt and Adrian Brody acts so well with his eyes. That I was continuosly focused on them and not his nose is remarkable. I can't complain about Schwartzman's performance, other than to say that personally, a little bit of him goes a long way.
At first the concept of these three very distinct looking actors as brothers bothered me, but as the story unfolds, it became very easy to believe they've spent a lifetime loving and hating each other. They effectively build a three-way love-hate relationship that only rival siblings can know. My second favorite line in the movie takes place as Francis and Peter fight:
Francis: I love you! I love you!
Peter: I hate you! I hate you!
Jack: I love you both but I'm going to mace you!
My favorite line is also the most clever:
Peter: There's been a lot of Indian giving in this family.
The Darjeeling Limited is full of beautiful and straight forward yet subtle metaphors. At one crucial point, the brothers lose their way spiritually and physically as they are kicked off the train. At another, the three are spiritually reunited by a baptism of sorts and funeral that allows them to reconnect and deal with death in a way they would not or could not at their father's. Still another is the trio's moment of salvation (so to speak) when they finaly let go of their baggage (again, literal and figurative) and choose to truly live.
Anderson uses the setting of India and her people in a very tasteful and quiet way. He obviously made a conscious effort to avoid stereotyping and it pays off by allowing India to exist quietly in the back ground as naturally and as comfortably as if the movie took place in your own hometown.
My screening (and most screenings if I'm not mistaken) included the 13-minute "prequel" film, Hotel Chevalier. HC is a totally different type of story, even though it stars Schwartzman and the woman who gave him the aforementioned broken heart, played by Natalie Portman (Portman appears in the main feature for just 2-3 seconds). It more or less exists on its own and the information we're given only slightly enhances our knowledge and background of Jack and perhaps makes him seem like the artificial star of the main movie. HC isn't so much to advance the main story, as it is to allow Anderson a chance to direct a totally different type of film without creating new characters or seeking more financing.
