The Darjeeling Limited DVD Review

I didn’t expect to like Darjeeling Limited. In fact, I had very low expectations for the film. Lucky for me, I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe it’s the fact that for so long I’ve had a hard time connecting to Wes Anderson’s films, most of which have earned an almost cult following but I found to be self serving and boring (Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zisson). I yawn involuntarily just thinking about them.

The there’s The Darjeeling Limited, a sort of little engine that could of family dynamics and birth order hierarchy that had me laughing and nodding much of the way.

The film is about the Whitman brothers. Francis (played by Owen Wilson) is the oldest and a victim of a recent auto accident he does not like to discuss. He initiates a trip with his two brothers to mend fences and make peace. Brothers Peter (played by Adrien Brody) and Jack (played by Jason Schwartzman) are middle and youngest, respectively, and play their birth order roles to perfection.

While Francis is hoping for a spiritual journey through India, via The Darjeeling Limited train, his ulterior motive is to confront their mother, Patricia (played by Anjelica Huston), brothers in tow.

While Peter frets about his wife’s pregnancy and his soon to be child, writer Jack sows as many of his wild oats as he can, both on the train and in life in general. Eldest/control freak Francis goes so far as to laminate daily schedules (albeit, with the assistance of his assistant, who he eventually drives crazy).

The scenes on the train, replete with crazy brother on brother fights, a snake on the loose, lots of painkillers and the misuse of pepper spray, are particularly funny, in stark contrast to the mood of the latter portion of the film, which scratches beneath the surface of each brother and his quirks and idiosyncrasies to get to the bottom of their falling out.

The film is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with Dolby sound and subtitles in English, French and Spanish. There are two extras, the first of which is Hotel Chevalier, a short film Anderson shot to be shown before the film (it’s even billed as “Part 1 of The Darjeeling Limited”), which gives back story on Jack. The other extra is a making of, full of the standard stuff.

Ultimately, The Darjeeling Limited is a film about life that is at times funny, at times sad, and always well acted.