Peter and Jack (Adrian Brody, Jason Schwartzman) reunite with their brother Francis (Owen Wilson) on a train in India; they haven’t talked in a while, but Francis wants them to bond on this spiritual journey. Fans of director Wes Anderson will recognize his themes, approach and style, but I found myself more interested in the portrayal of the dysfunctional brothers and their quest for independence than I had expected. There’s depth to a certain degree in the script, which ultimately becomes rather touching. One’s attention wanes at times, but excellent performances from the actors, not least Wilson, helps, and so does the Indian flavor.
2007-U.S. 91 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Lydia Dean Pilcher, Scott Rudin. Directed by Wes Anderson. Screenplay: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman. Cast: Owen Wilson (Francis), Jason Schwartzman (Jack), Adrien Brody (Peter), Anjelica Huston, Amara Karan, Wallace Wolodarsky… Barbet Schroeder, Bill Murray, Natalie Portman.
Trivia: Many screenings of the film are preceded by a short companion piece entitled Hotel Chevalier, starring Schwartzman and Portman.
Last word: “Initially I had two ideas; one that I wanted to make a movie in India and the second one was that I had this idea about a movie with three brothers on a train together. I mixed them together and they became ‘The Darjeeling Limited’. The other main idea I think was that I thought I’d like to write with Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman and I think the movie we wound up making is really the combination of all three of our points of view mixed together.” (Anderson, Rotten Tomatoes)
