The Films of Wes Anderson
Bottle Rocket
Rushmore
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Life Aquatic
The Darjeeling Limited (November 13/07)
The Darjeeling Limited delivers no more and no less than what one might've expected, as the film comes off as a prototypically quirky effort from director We Anderson. Those with a predilection for his off-the-wall antics will probably find plenty worth embracing here, though it's just as clear that Anderson's detractors will likely throw their hands up in frustration. The storyline - which follows three brothers (Owen Wilson's Francis, Adrien Brody's Peter, and Jason Schwartzman's Jack) as they reunite for a train voyage across India - has been peppered with precisely the sort of oddball stylistic and thematic elements that one has come to expect from Anderson, and there's certainly no denying that the movie initially comes off as an oppressively loopy piece of work. There does reach a point, however, at which Anderson starts to ease up on his more overtly eccentric tendencies and instead punctuates the proceedings with a number of genuinely heartfelt moments, ensuring that the relationship between the siblings ultimately does provide the film with a minor (yet palpable) emotional catharsis.
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Fantastic Mr. Fox (December 7/09)
Wes Anderson's first foray into the world of animation, Fantastic Mr. Fox follows several wild animals (including Meryl Streep's Mrs. Fox, Bill Murray's Badger, and Jason Schwartzman's Ash) as they're forced to go on the run after an irate farmer (Michael Gambon's Franklin Bean) declares war on their ringleader (George Clooney's Mr. Fox). The degree to which Fantastic Mr. Fox retains Anderson's notoriously off-kilter sense of style is actually somewhat astounding, as the movie boasts many of the elements one has come to expect from the unabashedly irreverent director (ie meticulously conceived visuals, a soundtrack bursting with classic rock, etc). There's consequently little doubt that the film generally fares about as well as Anderson's previous endeavors, with the pervasively easy-going atmosphere ultimately ensuring that even the filmmaker's detractors will likely find something here worth embracing (ie the whole thing is just irresistibly affable). And while it's hard to deny that the movie is sporadically just a little too quirky for its own good - ie a musical interlude featuring Pulp's Jarvis Cocker as a banjo-wielding character named Petey - Fantastic Mr. Fox, anchored by the uniformly stellar voice performances and a surprisingly singular visual sensibility, establishes itself as a thoroughly agreeable piece of work that will undoubtedly have a far more positive impact on Anderson's fans.
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