The Frame

Oh, Wes Anderson. You can make films about nothing, and yet I still enjoy watching them. I guess it’s not totally about nothing; it’s about three brothers (Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Adrien Brody) who meet up at Wilson’s behest to take a trip on the Darjeeling Limited, a cross-India train. They need to work through some relationship issues stemming from their mother’s absence (she’s holed up in a convent in the Himalayas) and their father’s recent death, and Wilson decided this train trip would be the best way. He’s controlling and anal, Schwartzman is ornery and horny, and Brody is having daddy-withdrawal issues, apparently. They have adventures. The film isn’t completely cohesive, but it’s a fun ride, colorful and quirky, as you’d expect Anderson to be. I am glad they decided to show Hotel Chevalier, Anderson’s introductory short which debuted online a few weeks before Darjeeling’s release, along with the film. It sets up so much of Schwarztman’s arc that I don’t know how Darjeeling would’ve worked without it. Overall, my guess is that if you like Wes Anderson, you’ll like Darjeeling, but if you don’t….why don’t you? No, sorry. This may not be the film to convince you, that’s what I was going to say. Because it is quirky and it is idiosyncratic, and it is a tad indulgent. And The Royal Tenenbaums would win in a deathmatch any day.
Well Above Average