By
Mitch Emerson
September 28, 2007 - 16:19
|
A slightly
surrealistic look at three brothers taking a spiritual journey to
bring them closer together gets derailed in this supposedly funny
comedy/drama from director Wes Anderson.
There was a short
film screened before this called
The Hotel Chevalier that will
prove to be more liked than the film itself. It is a prequel of sorts
that is supposed to tie in loosely with the movie but in actuality is
pretty pointless, but I was more interested in it than in the film.
See, Natalie Portman has an almost nude scene in it. Unfortunately,
she is barely in the movie itself. The short will not be screened
with the film but is available for free at iTunes (I got mine
already!), and will be available on the DVD. So if you see the short
first, don't get your hopes up.
As far as the film
itself, it falls a little short. Anderson really should have made
this more comedic. With names like Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman,
you expect comedy. Anderson has made a exploration of self picture
that just moseys along, stopping here, pausing there, not really
leading up to any big ending or anything. Trying to perk your
interest, there are some cameos by Bill Murray and Anjelica Huston,
who by the way, was the most likeable character in the film. She
seemed to be the only one outside of the main cast that knew what the
tone of the film was supposed to be. Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman
and Adrien Brody could make for an interesting family dynamic, but
unfortunately, their personalities seem a little watered down.
The visuals are
beautiful, from the countryside to the train itself.
The
Darjeeling Limited would make a great painting, but as far as
motion pictures go, it moves about as fast as the first steam powered
train.
Until The Earl
Grey Limited,
keep reading
Mitch Emerson
mitch@comicbookbin.com
ComicBookBin
