A strong addition to a full body of work
Added 7/12/2009
This movie feels no different than any other Wes Anderson film - it has Owen Wilson and Bill Murray and Anjelica Huston in it - and yet, there's something different. What is it that is not quite the same? Is it the fact that the film is set in India, that his cast of characters now includes Adrian Brody, or that it's finally been made clear that all the films are intended to run together? There's nothing in the films any more that can be separated from one another, and maybe that's a good thing - aren't Nobel prizes granted for a cohesive body of work, rather than a single masterpiece? Non sequitar dialogue, non sequitar scenery, the trademark drift around the location, and the subtle (but hilarious) sight gags - in this one, our protagonists inexplicably buy a cobra at market. This one has the heavily mustachioed Jason Schwartzman, an actor I don't know but have enjoyed in this film; he also helped to write the screenplay, indicating that he's entered the troupe (maybe he's been in it for a while and I'm only noticing now...). Flashback scenes where he is clean shaven are interesting for contrast, as is the "play before the movie" sequence with him and Nathalie Portman, playing a slutty something-or-other. The film strikes me as one of the more enjoyable Wes Anderson movies. I like it. Bill Murray's small, subtle role is great (some may consider it a mere sight gag), as is the Indian setting, as are the train staff, as are the villagers, as is the tiger. Go, tiger, go.
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You have to identify with it!!
Added 7/5/2009
I can't believe I missed this movie somehow, since The Royal Tennenbaums has been a favorite for years (as was the TV series Arrested Development). My husband Tivoed Darjeeling Ltd last year, burned it to a dvd, and we finally just watched it. I'm a 59 year old woman who identified with Owen Wilson's oldest sibling character. I howled as I realized this movie was making fun of ME, as well as my two brothers. For those who give it one or two stars, you must have grown up in an ideal, non-dysfunctional household - lucky you. But for so many of us, this movie hit home and, while being hilarious, also brings back a lot of unwanted memories. I've ordered it from Amazon to get a "real" copy - can't wait to see it again, maybe with the younger brother I haven't seen in six years!
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Entertaining on one viewing, but it's little more than Anderson's last two movies given a more exotic setting
Added 6/23/2009
Wes Anderson's THE DARJEELING LIMITED has three brothers meeting up for a train journey through India after a year of not talking. The youngest Jack (Jason Schwartzman) is a budding writer and womanizer, Peter (Adrien Brody) is a married man intimidated by the prospect of children, and the eldest Francis (Owen Wilson) is a rich business recovering from a motorcycle accident. The three have been separated since the death of their father, and Francis wants them to rediscover their brotherly solidarity.
THE DARJEELING LIMITED, for all its "exotic" setting, is pretty similar to Anderson's previous films THE LIFE AQUATIC and THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS with its story of a family that has long squabbled but which, after many trials and tribulations over the film, finds peace together in the end. Having seen all of Wilson's earlier output, I found THE DARJEELING LIMITED basically repeating a formula. It's an entertaining film to an extent, but Anderson is stuck in a rut. The treatment of India in the film sits uneasy with me. The train journey the brothers take is a fantasy, and the Indians the movie among are stereotypes with none given much of a personality (the two actors playing Indian train employees are in fact Westerners). At one point a village child dies, and it's almost appalling how Anderson uses this to advance the plot of the three brothers as if it were a mechanical action, with no sympathy to how the villagers around them would feel.
The cinematography is fairly elegant, and a few slapstick scenes drew a chuckle. Most memorable was a commentary on the trend well-known to travelers that, no matter how much it looks like you'll have a bus to yourself in the Third World, it will always been crammed full by the time it leaves. Still, I find RUSHMORE or THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS to still be, almost a decade on, Wilson's strongest achievements.
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Excellent Funny.
Added 5/20/2009
I'm not a big owen wilson fan, but this is amazing. I love it. Great Photography too.
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If you like other Wes Anderson films, the this is right up your alley!
Added 5/18/2009
The latest from Wes Anderson, using a lot of the same troupe as usual (Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, etc.) Light but fun movie about three estranged brothers who are called together by the oldest after he has a bike accident (and the an epiphany). They set off in India on a train ride to find their inner spirits. These comedies are more chuckles than belly laughs, but they come often and are nicely quirky. If you like Wes's previous movies ('Royal Tannenbaums', 'Life Aquatic', etc.), then this is right up your alley.
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