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.