In his fifth and latest feature, The Darjeeling Limited, American writer/director Wes Anderson and his familiar cast of goofball collaborators take to India in a comic tragedy. Featured are Francis, Jack, and Peter Whitman, three estranged brothers who reunite a year after their father’s death for a “spiritual” journey of reconciliation.
Almost immediately more relatable and human than The Life Aquatic, where design triumphed over character, The Darjeeling Limited arrives as both a film and a story with an awful lot of baggage (both literally and figuratively in not the subtlest of Anderson’s metaphors). The Whitman brothers’ individual attempts at coping have left each with his own ghost: Francis’ (Owen Wilson) face is covered in scars and bandages from a recent motorcycle accident, Jack (co-writer Jason Schwartzman) is tortured by a recent breakup, and Peter (Adrien Brody) is in fear and denial of becoming a father.
The journey, as organized by the oldest brother Francis, is a contrived, forced attempt at spiritual enlightenment and bonding. But as the film progresses, the journey begins to disintegrate and they are kicked off the train due to a combination of bad planning and contrived hi-jinx, including pill popping, pepper spray, and a poisonous snake.
Like in most road movies, the characters are never in danger of missing their (spiritual, dramatic) destination, since it’s not about the (geographical) result but the journey itself. The brothers bicker and fight the whole way and, of course, don’t find resolution in any of the organized ways Francis thought they would.
It’s not a coincidence that the themes of The Darjeeling Limited are applicable to someone as self-aware and intelligent as Anderson. The once-promising maverick of indie hits Bottle Rocket and Rushmore has spent each successive film inadvertently reducing his previously unique filmmaking approach into a formula and gimmick.
Still as prevalent but less effective are the quintessential Anderson elements: detailed and colorful set design, eccentrically symmetrical and centered framing, stylized camera movements and use of slow motion, deadpan comic delivery and timing, and a ’60s-era soundtrack.
With The Darjeeling Limited, Anderson is aware that it’s time to move on, for both his characters and himself, but his attempt is far from convincing. He retreads to a tired aesthetic and a story in which his characters are throwing away their baggage but he’s still sorting through his own.
– Eric Marsh
The Darjeeling Limited
Director: Wes Anderson
91 minutes, Fox Searchlight
Opened 9/29/07 in limited US release
The Darjeeling Limited: www.foxsearchlight.com/thedarjeelinglimited
Fox Searchlight: www.foxsearchlight.com