'The Darjeeling Limited' Seesaws Between Deft, Forced Eccentricity

CHICAGO - With his aloof character panache and colorful imagery, Wes Anderson is one of those directors you either love dearly or loathe dreadfully.

The mastermind behind such titles as "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou," "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "Rushmore," his next hatchling comes in the form of "The Darjeeling Limited" through the propensity of brotherly trio Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson.

But first things first. Prior to its Friday release, many enthusiasts on Sept. 26 were treated to a 13-minute iTunes tease entitled "Hotel Chevalier," which is "part one" of the film.

After being a voyeur with the short online and then enveloping the feature-length film thereafter ("The Darjeeling Limited" is coined after a train and has naught to do with the tea), you'll concede that the short only whets your appetite to Anderson's distinctive stylization while revealing Natalie Portman's first glimpse of screen nudity.

Portman's virgin-popping moment of screen skin is tastefully done. Noticing her one cheek - the below-the-waist kind - only seems peculiar because Schwartzman is fully clad while she's fully not.

For moviegoers who flock to the theater without first being exposed to "Hotel Chevalier," the film asks audiences to seek it out for themselves later. Because Portman's cameo in "The Darjeeling Limited" is tragically wasted, the main reason to do so is for her (unless you need to see even more sly iPod product placement).

While Bill Murray kicks off "The Darjeeling Limited" with mirthful facial expressions that instill immediate hope for the film, he also falls off the film's universe and thereafter isn't used but in one ephemeral scene. I report lukewarm feedback for this film ultimately because its quirkiness is simultaneously its best and worst quality.

While I dig its idiosyncrasies and muted characters - Schwartzman, for example, loves to trek around far-flung lands devoid of shoes and the members of this tripod are persistently popping prescription drugs - the film tends to fall victim to the very eccentricities that make Anderson unique.