Review of The Darjeeling Limited (2007) by Jennifer S — 11 Apr 2010

Finally, an Anderson film with all of its quirky, trifling characters that I could actually get behind. This movie was completely saved by scenes so rich and colorful I could practically smell what I would imagine to be the spicy, incensy smell of India. Not to say that the characters were unlikable - I adored each of them for their personal edges and tics. I'd have to say, though, that my favorite character was Francis. His dedication to stick to his plan by any means possible, combined by this oddly whimsical randomness that seeped its way in from time to time, made for some great scenes and awkward moments.

My thoughts on the other two characters: Adrian Brody as Peter, always exasperated and frustrated. His wife was rather unlikeable. Jason Schwartzman as Jack, wide eyed young boy of the bunch, had mustache and longish hair that reminded me of The Beatles' Sargent Pepper phase. His diversion with the Indian stewardess on the train felt contrived. This movie did not need a passionate love scene - in fact, I'll argue that the prelude Hotel Chevalier presents enough of that to take care of the matter - and so I kept waiting for those scenes to be over.

I found it hilarious that this movie features Bill Murray, such a well-known actor, as a character simply known as "The Businessman" who vanishes within about thirty seconds of his introduction. It's almost a joke in the way he looks like he's going to be one of the central characters. the camera adopts his point of view for the time that he's shown and then quickly abandons him as soon as he misses the train. I wondered what the meaning of that was; just as well, it was probably a "ha! Fooled you!" laugh for Anderson. It made me smile.

After a while I wondered where the journey was taking these three men who, bit by bit, seemed to grow more comfortable with each other and the demons that skidded at the edges of their vision. Their destination was their mother, whose actions confirmed my suspicions of these men's neurotic and dysfunctional beginnings. She seems healthy and happy and successful - but I wasn't sure what, exactly, she was running from other than perhaps the shame of letting them develop their demons in the first place. Her leaving, I felt, marked an inverted climax - after that, it was just a matter of when the movie would end. It dragged on a little bit. I am glad that these characters, at the end, did find some degree of happiness with each other.. and that they could move on peacefully with their lives. I liked the sequence at the end, with all of the characters (even The Businessman!) returning in a final sweep... almost as if the train represents a small lifetime of faces and feelings. And once the brothers board a non-Darjeeling train, the realize that what they experienced can never be repeated. A nice touch, a catalog of lovely scenes, a plot that could have used some tweaking.