The best way to describe “The Darjeeling Limited” is to say that it is a typical Wes Anderson show.
The director who gave us “Rushmore,” “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou” is known for his quirky, personal pieces that defy easy categorization. They are distinguished by satiric tone, weird deadpan characters in close relationship, antic exploits, abrupt shifts into tragedy and the presence of Bill Murray. They are an acquired taste. But the detail in his films is always wildly original, especially their fantastically involving modern soundtracks.
About three grown brothers on a redemptive railway trip through India, riding a train called the Darjeeling Limited, today’s edition follows the now very familiar template. How much this one tickles and then moves you may depend on what kind of love/hate relationship you have with your own sibling(s) and how fascinated you are by the color and idiosyncrasies of that mystical South Asian nation.
For me, to a large extent, I identified with the family dysfunction and funky setting. The storyline (written by Anderson with Roman Coppola and “Rushmore’s” Jason Schwartzman) is more coherent than is sometimes true for the oeuvre. And I was less annoyed and more sucked in than I sometimes am by the filmmaker’s arbitrary flights of fancy, which are marked here by the amusing randomness of culture clash and exotic travel.
Mostly, though, it is the individual congeniality and collective hilarity of the three main actors as the brothers that keep “The Darjeeling Limited” on track. Owen Wilson plays the bossy eldest, Francis. He’s organized the trip for a hidden agenda — not only to find some spiritual peace in healing over the death of their father a year ago but also to reunite them with their runaway mother (Anjelica Huston). Adrien Brody is the middle brother, Peter, an emotionally detached hypochondriac reticent about the impending birth of his first child. The youngest, Jack, played by Schwartzman, is recovering from a bad breakup. (His love interest is played by Natalie Portman in a short film, a 13-minute prologue called “Hotel Chevalier,” which is briefly referenced in the main film and can be downloaded online.)
All three sad and hapless siblings have trust and substance abuse issues. They tour with a set of their father’s distinctive baggage that comes to represent the figurative baggage they also share. Adventures involving — among other things — a poisonous snake, an attractive train stewardess (Amara Karan) and a native village in grief will culminate with an evocative montage set to a Rolling Stones song that sums up the movie’s discombobulating mood. Murray pops up only momentarily in this latest Anderson spectacle, which has unique if “Limited” appeal.
‘The Darjeeling Limited’
***
Starring: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Wes Anderson
Rated R for language
Running time: 92 minutes
