Basic plot: Three brothers take a train ride through India as part of a spiritual journey.
Maybe Bottle Rocket and Rushmore set my expectations too high with their complete awesomeness, but I really didn’t care for The Darjeeling Limited. It’s not that it’s bad exactly; it’s just a little too weird for my tastes. Where Bottle Rocket and Rushmore were quirky and goofy, they at least maintained a consistent tone throughout.
The first two-thirds of Darjeeling Limited is decently funny. The brothers’ interactions are entertaining to watch and there are a handful of highly amusing ideas thrown here and there, but enjoy them while they last because once this hits the hour mark it seems to decide that laughing isn’t cool anymore. And I don’t mean that to say it stops being funny because the jokes get lame. The jokes stop almost altogether.
Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartman, and Adrien Brody are all very well cast in their parts and most of the writing makes for quite the believable trinity of brothers. I just wasn’t a fan of the imbalance between comedy and drama. The shift was far too sudden and the story isn’t really strong enough to support it.
I’m sure the die-hard Wes Anderson fans will still enjoy it, but I’m not quite that easy. The cinematography feels uniquely Anderson-esque and the soundtrack is possibly the most consistent high-point of the entire movie. But the story is lacking and rather jumbled emotionally.
Not what I was hoping for. Time to move on to Frank Darabont.
April 29th, 2009 at 12:53 am
I remember watching this ages ago. It’s as if the first half of the movie was written by one people, and the other half someone else.
The whole mood changes and suddenly its a completely different movie., with a new tone.
Just not that enjoyable I found.
April 29th, 2009 at 1:59 am
I was kinda “meh” about this film the first time I saw it, too, but Nina and I watched it again just a month or two ago and I liked it a lot more the second time around.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Overall I liked this movie quite a bit, but it’s definitely my least favorite Wes Anderson movie. One thing I noticed is that the trademark Wes Anderson montages and tones felt really overdone. I’m a huge fan of his, but I think he needs to do something new, which I guess he is with his next film being animated.
I guess I disagree with you on Darjeeling for the most part. I didn’t mind the shift in tone, liked the acting and story and was only disappointed that it wasn’t a masterpiece like Rushmore, Bottle Rocket and Royal Tenenbaums.
April 29th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
It’s not one I’m determined to never watch again. I’d be willing to give it a second chance someday if I had a good reason, I’m just not in any hurry either.
Also, this is only semi-relevant, but I liked Life Aquatic considerably more than Tenenbaums.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
REALLY? Life Aquatic over Tenenbaums?! WHY???
April 29th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
It’s more adventurous. I love a good adventure.
April 30th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Fair enough