review: THE DARJEELING LIMITED

Fox  //  Buy from Amazon.com Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited stars Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Adrien Brody as three brothers who, at the insistence of the oldest, take a train ride through India together in order to strengthen their bond. Even though the vacation goes wrong in ways they do not anticipate, the strangeness of their setting and some revealing honesty produces some surprising changes between them all While I would state without any hesitation that Wes Anderson is one of my favorite directors, the fact remains that I only like half of his films. "Bottle Rocket," while entertaining, is not all that great of a film, but it definitely hints at the greatness to come. "Rushmore" is a fantastic film that really introduces us to the Wes Anderson style that would define this, and all his future, films. "The Royal Tenenbaums" is my favorite film of his, an exquisitely-crafted film that is perfect in every single respect. Then comes "The Life Aquatic" - I've yet to make it through this film in its entirety, as it just seems to self-indulgent as to be almost impossible to sit through. "The Darjeeling Limited" is somewhere in-between "Tenenbaums" and "Life Aquatic" - hints of brilliance, with broad swatches of self-indulgence as well. Still, it's a Wes Anderson film, so it's perfectly framed, perfectly shot, every frame like a picture, a soundtrack that could not possibly be improved upon, and a rock-solid cast to deliver the (mostly) solid script. Maybe I'm just getting used to (or bored with) Wes Anderon's unique, but heavy-handed style... or maybe Owen Wilson has now passed into Nicolas Cage territory and annoys me more than he entertains me... Whatever it is, this film has more good than bad, without question, but the bad parts annoyed me surprisingly strongly. However, in the end, this is a fine film, and definitely worth your time. Just don't expect "Rushmore" part 2. Video Presented in a 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio, the transfer is first-rate, delivering every frame exactly how Wes Anderson wanted it to look, in all its 60s/70s Indian glory... Audio The included Dolby 5.1 surround mix is first rate, delivering all of the sonic goodness with nary a flaw. Extras "Hotel Chevalier" prologue behind-the-scenes featurette Closing Thoughts Fun, warm-hearted tale + no real extras = another fine Wes Anderson creation, but devoid of any extras (an indication of a deluxe edition yet to come?)