Movie Review- ‘The Darjeeling Limited’
The first scene of director Wes Anderson’s latest film features actor Bill Murray dressed in a suit, desperately sprinting to catch a moving train called “The Darjeeling Limited.” As Murray gasps for breath mid-stride, the camera pans in slow motion to his profile.
The first scene of director Wes
Anderson’s latest film features actor Bill
Murray dressed in a suit, desperately
sprinting to catch a moving train called
“The Darjeeling Limited.” As Murray
gasps for breath mid-stride, the camera
pans in slow motion to his profile.
Suddenly, actor Adrien Brody appears
running beside him. Lanky, lean
and young, he passes Murray easily.
As Brody swings onto the back of the
train and into the film, Murray slows
and stops, defeated, to watch the train
chug away.
Although Murray might have missed
the train, and thus a leading role in
Anderson’s latest movie, in the end, he’s
probably better off this time around.
Anderson has directed and written great
movies, but “The Darjeeling Limited” is
not one of them.
The film stars Brody, Owen Wilson
and Jason Schwartzman as three brothers
who go to India to reconnect with each
another and find themselves spiritually.
Unlike his past films, such as “The Life
Aquatic,” “Rushmore” and “The Royal
Tenenbaums,” Anderson’s latest effort
lacks much of his signature charm, often
found in his sentimental, stylized direction
and his affinity for writing jarringly
honest and witty dialogue.
Making matters worse, “The Darjeeling
Limited” soundtrack is mostly
composed of authentic, Indian mixes. The
Indian music is beautiful, but it doesn’t
connect the viewer to the film’s story
and characters as classic soundtracks in
Anderson’s past films have.
For instance, David Bowie’s “Queen
Bitch” perfectly augments the moment
at the end of “The Life Aquatic” when
Bill Murray lifts a boy onto his shoulders
and walks in slow motion toward the
screen.
The only moment in “The Darjeeling
Limited” when a background song
is memorable isn’t in the film at all
– it plays during the short film, “Hotel
Chevalier,” also directed by Anderson,
which precedes the film.
“Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)”
by Peter Sarstedt perfectly defines the
final moment between the film’s two
actors, Schwartzman and Natalie Portman.
The two actors play an estranged
couple who reunite in a hotel room in
Paris. Portman and Schwartzman talk,
awkwardly stare at one another and then
reconcile, if only temporarily. Portman,
who strips down to almost nothing in
the film, only reappears briefly in “The
Darjeeling Limited” to reprise her role
in a cameo.
The audience never learns about how
this couple met or why they separated.
This is a shame, considering the chemistry
between the two actors in “Hotel
Chevalier” is five times more interesting
to watch than the predictable film that
follows.
Predictability isn’t always a bad thing.
Although Anderson’s films often focus
on dysfunctional families, they also
usually have individually considered,
connective themes that are prominent
in the set designs, the music and the
films’ overall feel. These themes make
the films fresh.
In the “Royal Tenenbaums,” rusty reds
and oranges are featured consistently in
the film’s sets, and the plot follows suit,
as each character is written and stylized
to fit a retro sensibility.
“The Darjeeling Limited” attempts to
use its setting in India as a way to create
this connective thread, but ultimately, the
direction feels forced and unnatural, and
the plot does not seem to reasonably fit
the setting.
Perhaps this is because Anderson’s
signature style is no longer novel, not even
to him. Had Anderson decided to leave
the dysfunctional family plot behind and
maybe make a feature-length version of
“Hotel Chevalier,” the end result might
have been a fresher film.
To be fair, though, “The Darjeeling
Limited” has its moments. Schwartzman,
featured before in Anderson’s “Rushmore,”
prompts a dozen laugh-out-loud moments,
mostly because of his endearing line delivery
and his talents as a physical comedian.
And Brody, in his first appearance in an
Anderson film, brings good timing and
a gently emotional performance to an
otherwise cold endeavor.
Though truly devout Anderson fans
might be content with “The Darjeeling
Limited,” the film’s failure to meet
expectations make it the least notable film
Anderson has made during his remarkable
career.
Grade: C