The Darjeeling Limited: If I mispronounce it once more I may be racist

When did Phil Collins become cool? Sorry, lingering confusion.

So this Tuesday I went to see The Darjeeling Limited, because I'm a big fan of Wes Anderson, but not a big enough fan to spend more than $4.25 on a theatre ticket. What do you want?

Anyways, I thought I was going to be pretty disappointed with this movie. My initial reaction to Life Aquatic was disappointment despite my now current and overwhelming tendency to gush about it. Then there was also the relatively mediocre reviews. Critics are pompous and I thought they'd be right behind this film, if they weren't it might actually blow. Apparently I got critics confused with hippsters. Bill Murray isn't really in this one either. I like Bill Murray. Finally, it just seemed like time for him to release a stinker.

But yeah, it was pretty enjoyable. I could chalk it up to low expectations but why ruin a good thing? This makes my heart... feel?

The stand-out feature of all Anderson flicks is that odd aesthetic of his. His movies seem to exist in parallel universes, not like cowboy universes, but universes with strange dialogue and odd ways of speaking. If you've seen one of his movies you'll know what I'm talking about. And that aesthetic is certainly present in this film.

Most of the actors do an admirable job in the film. Owen Wilson is always great in his Anderson roles and he's great in this one too. He's unpredictable and hilarious. Jason Schwartzman's dry acting is normally perfect for Anderson's film, and in Darjeeling he often seems at home, but sometimes he sticks out a little. However, I often need to see an Anderson film a few times to really get into it and so I imagine my complaints with Schwartzman might fade away in after another viewing. Anjelica Huston's performance, however, left a lot to be desired. Her role is pretty important (I won't spoil it) and her rather bland performance hurts the emotional climax of the film. Adrian Brody, though, that dude really surprised me. I've never really cared much for him, as I shy away from big budget academy award seeking movies about Nazis but Brody was absolutely fantastic in this film. He was by far my favourite character and doesn't seem out of place among the Anderson veterans. I hope to see him in further projects.

Ultimately I guess I should discuss whether this film is actually funny or not. It is. Often I was the only person in the theatre laughing (or at least my roommate and I) and so perhaps my sense of humour is part derangement but like all of his films (again) there is some awesome dialogue. I love the way people speak in Anderson films: blunt, concise, and drier than a Zellers clubhouse sandwich. Darjeeling is no different. And humour is used nicely as a contrast to the more somber nature of the character's problems. You feel worse for them because you just laughed at them.

I think the obvious conclusion for this review is that if you like Anderson films then you'll probably like this movie. There isn't anything strikingly new here but I'm not sure if that was what I wanted. Maybe some people are finding his aesthetic tired, but I think this is an issue of how overt it is and thus such an easy criticism. Is evolution about changing your style or is it in improving it? I'm happy with the current state. Ask me in another six films.

P.S. They play the short film made as a pre-cursor to Darjeeling Limited before the movie. This little film includes a very racy seen with one Natalie Portman. So if that's your thing, it's a giant screen man.