The Darjeeling Limited Review

I’m a Wes Anderson fan. As I already mentioned, I wouldn’t be out seeing Wes Anderson movies if I didn’t think I would like them, so of course I loved The Darjeeling Limited.

Critics say he makes the same movie every time, but so what if he does? The one movie he makes is visually dynamic, has great music, deadpan humor, and gets better after multiple viewings. And there’s only five of them, so in the face of multiple action blockbusters, crappy teen comedies, and torture-porn horror movies among a billion different easily recognizable Hollywood tropes, five of them isn’t enough, if you ask me.

As to the specifics of this one: if you’ve seen any of the trailers or tv spots, then you know pretty much the entire plot: Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, and Owen Wilson play three brothers reconnecting on the titular train in India, a year after their father’s funeral. That’s pretty much it- the plot takes many different soap opera like reveals and twists, but the usual disaffection keeps the tone of the movie more dark comic than maudlin.

Schwartzman and Brody deliver similar brooding turns as men getting over a breakup and dealing with impending fatherhood, respectively. But Wilson is the best as the oldest brother, who deals with a motorcycle accident by taking fastidious control of their trip, with a laminated itinerary and asking for control over their personal decisions.

The near-OCD of Wilson’s character is an obvious surrogate for Anderson’s detail-oriented, precise directorial style: Wilson even holds onto his brother’s passports for safekeeping. In a telling scene near the film’s conclusion, he offers them back, but they smile and say it’s all right if he holds onto them- Anderson giving himself tacit approval.

And why not? The basics of the film are a little sparse and simple, but any lack of subtext is made up by the backdrop. Darjeeling is a wonderful land’s-eye view of India, better than a tour guide and full of tourists’ awed reverence. The high point of the film is an encounter with The Namesake’s Irfa Khann and the rest of a small village, which plays out for ten full minutes with no English dialogue, and no subtitles.

It would be fascinating enough on the travel channel. So while the film itself, at least after one viewing, is arguably Anderson’s least complex (there’s a lot of obvious metaphors, from the several pieces of the father’s luggage they carry around to Wilson’s character removing his wound dressings and saying “I guess I have a lot of healing left to do.”), the feel of the film is deep and meditative.

So definitely try to catch this one.

But if you didn’t like Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, or The Life Aquatic, then I don’t know what to tell you.

When to See It: As Soon As Humanly Possible

Descisions, descisions

So as you may have noticed, I never made it to see Michael Clayton this whole week- that's how busy it's been.

So after most of September and early October, I find myself with a wonderful conundrum: so many movies to see, so little time (and limited means, for that matter).

Milwaukee's Landmark Theater branches finally got their prints of The Darjeeling Limited and Lust, Caution, so those are high on the list. And then there's the aforementioned Tony Gilroy legal thriller, and the brothers Affleck's effort, Gone Baby Gone.

Four movies, only one me. At least I know what I'm not seeing: Things We Lost in the Fire looks bland, 30 Days of Night involves Josh Hartnett, and Rendition isn't holding up under the critic's scalpel.

Here's the plan, I think- Darjeeling tonight at 9:30, and then possibly the two major releases (Clayton, Baby) on Sunday. Lust, Caution might have to wait until later in the week, as it only plays at 8:00 pm and is two hours and thirty nine minutes long- that's three hours plus with previews.

What will everybody else see this weekend? Who knows? Consensus seems to be that 30 Days of Night will top the charts with $20 million or so, but then nobody saw Why Did I Get Married? coming last week (including yours truly. I thought people liked fat-suits?).

Hotel Chevalier

So in lieu of The Darjeeling Limited itself, yesterday I downloaded Hotel Chevalier, the thirteen minute prologue to it, of sorts. It's free on iTunes.

Obviously, it's not much of a film on its own- I thought of it sort of like an appetizer, a digital precursor to keep us going until the film reaches our respective towns.

And for what it is, it works- Wes Anderson is better at tortured father-son dynamics and family issues in general than tortured relationships, as the awkwardness between Natalie Portman and Jason Schwartzman indicates. But the colors in room 403 of the eponymous hotel are well coordinated, and there's as ever a cool song: "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)," by Peter Sarstedt.

But even if this were crappy, I still think it's an innovative way to generate interest- The best trailers, in my opinion, are the ones that just show part of the film (like this one for The Devil Wears Prada), so a short film that accompanies the movie is even better.

And if you're not familiar with Wes Anderson movies at all, it would be a great litmus test for you, since it contains the sort of artificial detachment that people tend to find insufferable, as well as the music and artfully framed shots that people like.

The Fly-Over States

I live in Milwaukee. In high school, I was all "I can't wait till I blow this one horse town!" But now, I'm so fond of it and used to its Portland-like, laid back rhythms that anytime I make the hour drive to Chicago, I freak the hell out: narrow streets, taxicabs that look like police-cars, hot dog vendors! My god, man, no one can live at that speed!

So unless I want to finally make it to see In the Valley of Elah, or force myself to see something I don't give a rat's ass about, I have no movies to see right now. What about Friday, you ask? Well, I haven't seen Elizabeth, so I'm not going to pay money for Elizabeth With a Vengeance*, and I'm not seeing The Seeker, because I'm not a proponent of ruining beloved books. And if you think I'm even considering seeing The Heartbreak Kid, obviously you just found this webpage by Googling that title.

(That reminds me- I liked There's Something About Mary okay and all, but aren't the Farrelys a little bummed that they've had not one other movie worth mentioning in previews since then? That was nine years ago, people. Nine. That's like calling Steven Soderbergh "the director of Out of Sight." Great film, but he's had a little bit of success since.)

So I have to wait until the 12th for anything I'm excited about. But here's my point- Michael Clayton (Clooney! Gilroy! Wilkinson! The androgynous villainy of Tilda Swinton!) is opening in 15 theaters on Friday as well. But how many of those fifteen aren't on one coast or the other? One. Just one AMC, in Chicago. If you don't believe me, look at that lonely red triangle on this imdb map.

What gives? Would it kill people to send one print out to other major cities with an arts scene? And what's with the low theater roll-out anyway? In LA, there are people who this weekend can go see The Darjeeling Limited, Lust, Caution, Michael Clayton, Across the Universe, or The Assassination of Jesse James, but will probably choose to stay home and pick their noses (or see The Heartbreak Kid and pick their noses. Zing!).

I'd love to see any of those films, but I'm stuck waiting another week and a half for most of them, and an additional week for Darjeeling. Such is life in the Midwest, I suppose.


* turns out the new Elizabeth is actually on the 12th as well. The third wide release this Friday? The Jennifer Lopez-produced Feel the Noise. I can't even make fun of this one. The trailer does it all for me.

New York/LA can suck an egg

Ah, well. It doesn't look like I'll have a review for you this weekend, since only our privileged coastal brethren get the opening of The Darjeeling Limited and Lust Caution, respectively. For anyone in town who wants to know, Milwaukee gets Lust on October 12th, and Darjeeling on October 19th. So I'll probably post reviews that are way later than the mass of internet reviews out there much later, but if you read them it'll make me feel a lot better.

Anyway, I couldn't help but glance at the reviews for The Darjeeling Limited to see where the magic number on Rotten Tomatoes would fall this time- the verdict so far: 68%, but the "cream of the crop," which is to say the more respectable, accredited members of the critical population have it at 50%.

Whatever. Wes Anderson makes the same movie every time, and that's fine with me- for reference, see this Onion Article: "New Wes Anderson Film Features Deadpan Delivery, Meticulous Art Direction, Characters With Father Issues."

It's like escargot: some people like it, others don't. If you try it once and don't like it, good for you. If you try it five times and still don't like it, why are you still talking to me? I know it's a critic's job to honestly assess each film, and that a director's previous films should enter the equation somewhat, but honestly: Snakes on a Plane gets a free pass at 69% but The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou is mixed at 52%? I think even Wes Anderson at this point is only aiming for Wes Anderson fans.

That's why I'm here for you- I probably won't pay money to see something I'm not going to like, so I won't waste your time telling you had bad the new Farrelly Brothers movie is. And if you don't want to know how awesome The Darjeeling Limited was (in three weeks), it's not on you to read about it, either.

Fall Movie Preview

Apologies for the hiatus in posting- my girlfriend’s little brother was killed in a car wreck. Yeah. It makes movies seem less important, obviously, but then again we did go see Shoot ‘Em Up to distract ourselves. And it worked.

So here are the movies this fall that I’m most excited about, one per month:

September: Eastern Promises

This one will have a review soon. Because what’s not to like? It has Aragorn (though if I ever met Viggo Mortensen I would say “I loved you in G. I. Jane!” just for the awkwardness), Naomi Watts, David Cronenberg, the guy that wrote Dirty Pretty Things, and Vincent Cassel.

The runner up for September is probably The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand, or whatever it’s called, now that’s it’s getting good reviews (or at least Terrence Mallick comparisons, which is enough for me). But that’s assuming that it actually comes to Milwaukee before September’s over.

October: The Darjeeling Limited

If you don’t like Wes Anderson movies, at this point that’s mostly your problem. For me, Bottle Rocket was one of the first movies I watched over and over and went to see at midnight (also it holds a special place in my heart because I used to watch it with my mom on the IFC channel), and the scene at the end of The Life Aquatic (Spolier Alert) when Steve sees the Jaguar Shark and wonders aloud “Do you think he remembers me?” gets me teary-eyed every time. I even wrote a college paper about The Life Aquatic. I got an A on it.

So of course I’m stoked for this movie. But I guess Wes Anderson is a taste that is for some reason difficult for other people (and critics) to acquire.

October’s runner up is probably Michael Clayton, because Clooney’s dependable enough. We Own the Night is out pending critical reception, and regarding Things We Lost in the Fire I’m torn between my hatred for Halle Berry (see X-Men 3: The Last Stand), and my respect for director Susanne Bier’s previous film, After the Wedding.

November: American Gangster

Come on, people. Watch the trailer. Everyone is stoked for this movie. Even Jay-Z was inspired. I’d also like to point out the expert use of music in both this trailer and The Darjeeling Limited’s trailer, above. Really makes all the difference.

November’s runner up is a tie, as my love for both the Coen brothers and Neil Gaiman is enriched by No Country For Old Men and Beowulf, respectively.

December: The Golden Compass

This is pretty much by default. I mean, I was gonna try and look cool and say I was really excited about Francis Ford Coppola’s new film Youth Without Youth until I realized I don’t really give a crap about Apocalypse Now or even (gasp!) the Godfather films. And if I ever own a Francis Ford Coppola film, it’ll probably be to get my girlfriend Peggy Sue Got Married.

But I like fantasy epics, and Daniel Craig, so I’m in line for this one. For a runner up, I’ll go with Clooney again, as his third directorial feature, Leatherheads, comes out. I’m not terribly sold on the premise, or old-timey football in general, but I really liked The Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night and Good Luck, so I’m optimistic.