The Darjeeling Limited

Tiny, elf-like director Wes Anderson has suddenly revealed a human side in his weepy-comedy (or “weepomedy,” as the critics like to say) The Darjeeling Limited. Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson, in descending order of effectiveness, play brothers on a spiritual journey through northern India. United by their odd mannerisms, mourning their recently deceased father and headed toward their unpredictable mother, they try to bond while the camera pans across a garishly painted landscape replete with hot babes, shoe thieves and tragic loss. This is Anderson’s most effectively dramatic film, partly because he now knows enough to tone down the drama. The comedy follows from this with greater effect than in his more slapstick films, and though it lacks the impact of Rushmore, the rigor of The Royal Tenenbaums and the ill-advised whimsy of Life Aquatic, it does manage to regain the humanity of Bottle Rocket, only with a new, deeper maturity.