By Sabrina Cognata

Here is the problem with this movie, it is so incredibly pretentious in the creative sense that I am not sure if Wes Anderson got the memo that he should not take himself seriously due to the fact that he wears glasses that look like they were bought from the young girls section of the local J.C. Penny’s.  That being said, The Darjeeling Limited maintains a tongue-in-cheek integrity in a film tied together with themes about humanity, perseverance & family.  I almost feel like Wes Anderson finally watched Life Aquatic, realized what a bombastic, self-indulgent load of dung it was and wrote a movie exactly the opposite of it.  I am not even kidding.

The Darjeeling Limited tells the story of three estranged brothers that meet in order to reestablish their bonds via the enlightenment of take a spiritual journey.  That doesn’t sound pretentious at all, does it?  Well it isn’t not at first.  The dialogue is all snap, crackle and pop.  Lean, clever writing that zips off the page and rings in the ears.  The script glows and actually saves the film entirely.  The problem becomes Wes Anderson and the creative process he uses in order to make his movie happen.  His insane ability to pay attention to every last detail has spiraled out of control from clever to annoying.  I’m sorry, but the film loses credibility when I find myself having to break away from it to critique the stupid knickknacks in the background.  It’s in my lame opinion that the film actually suffers from this because the viewer is forced on a frequent basis to acknowledge the fact that everything going on is fictional.

The three brothers Jack, Francis & Peter Whitman (Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson & Adrien Brody respectively) come together for a journey through India on the Darjeeling Limited, a train.  The brother’s total inability to relate to one another without trust is highlighted almost immediately as Francis shows up with his face maimed and his brother’s questioning his competence and reliance behind his back.  Peter’s wife, Alice is pregnant.  Jack is breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s voicemails and has a secret ticket to use to get back to Italy.  The two share these secrets with one another, leaving Francis out of the loop intentionally.  In the same way, Francis hides the fact that the actual nature of this journey is not just a spiritual awakening, but to track down and visit with their mother (Angelica Huston) whom none of them have seen since before their father’s funeral. 


Eventually, the brothers manage to get themselves expelled from the train and continue on their journey by foot.  They travel through the East Indian desert connecting with the locals and moreover one another by simply existing as brother’s can.  The acting itself is incredible with Adrien Brody silently carrying the dramatic parts of the movie on his shoulders.  Equally, Jason Schwartzman & Owen Wilson tie together the trifecta by doing what they do best and nailing a sort of lost humor etched in serious storytelling. 

By the time the brothers reach their wayward mother they have reviewed the sense of loss that drove them apart, as well as, bonded over their complete inability to lose one another while grieving for their father.  Their mother, Patricia, is a plain woman stationed in an Indian convent working as a nun.  The brothers simply want to know why their mother abandoned them and their father and then never came to his funeral.  Her answer, like most in life is simple, she did not want to.  It becomes a sort of revelation to the three as they go to bed and awaken to the fact that their mother has once again abandoned them.  The three pick up their journey, preparing to go the separate ways, but understand that as a family they are always connected even if that connection is through anger, grief or even jealousy.  The journey they make reestablishes their connection and love for one another not only as men, but as the small boys they once were.  The film ends as the trio decides to board another train abandoning their limited edition Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton Luggage and running in slow motion to catch their train.