Wes Anderson's films are usually hit (Royal Tenenbaums) or miss (The Life Aquatic), however, The Darjeeling Limited proves somewhat of an oddity. Parts are pleasurable and weird, but a lot of the time, the film is too detached from its three central characters. They're more like sketches of people, instead of the quirky and fully realized people Mr. Anderson usually presents us with. Adrien Brody fares best here, but he can't overcome Anderson and Jason Schwartzman's underdeveloped script.
The images and colors are excellent and stunningly capture the beauty and chaos of India, but this can't make up for the fact that a lot of the film takes too long to do a whole lot. For starters, it's too long(or at least it felt that way), and I can think of several spots where the film could have ended, specifically one shots that combines numerous "scenes" in varying locations and presents them within the confines of a train car. Also, the short film (titled "Hotel Chevalier") played before the movie does help to set up some small jokes, but it really felt more like an excuse to have Natalie Portman take her clothes off(not that this is a bad thing but...). So there you have it: a detached review for a detached movie.
Grade: B-
Nominations: None.
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