Movie Review: The Darjeeling Limited

Are you ready to board another wildly funny ride into director Wes Anderson's mind? The Darjeeling Limited is just the ticket. This is Anderson returning to the same themes and characteristics he has been exploring since The Royal Tenenbaums. However, what made this exotic trip to India worth the traveling time are the film's three main characters and the plot they unravel.

The Darjeeling Limited is a coming of age story in which three brothers, despite their differences, learn to connect. When their father passes away, Francis (Owen Wilson) decides to make his other two brothers, Jack and Peter (Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody) come along with him on the titular train. As they embark on their quest, the brothers' try connecting through Indian spiritual rituals, attending a funeral in hopes of discovering why they are even on the train to begin with. In order to bond, the brothers' must overcome their own selfish dysfunction's that have firm roots in each of their pasts.

Each character has motivation, subtext and most of all they play an intricate part in the overall story. Peter's obsession with wrapping himself up in his dad's material objects was perfectly on target. Jack's search for love and attention could not be clearer.
Francis's intentions for the trip could not be more heartfelt. The three are each struggling with their own identity, trying to free themselves of the traits they have received from their parents. They soon find that impossible. The train and where it takes them, is their transition period into understanding themselves.

If there is one thing Wes Anderson is great at, it is developing characters. He masterfully creates them into three dimensional people that might as well be alive. Anderson's characters are so well drawn that they are what make the plot function. No other character could replace them without throwing the story off its tracks.