The Darjeeling Limited

I almost appreciated this film. The story of Wes Anderson is that as soon as he was able to make a film with a large budget he added all the bells and whistles to production and set out to make the themes and characterizations in his films as pretentious as possible. Fans interpret that as characters who are self conscience, but I call it stiff models of fashion and trend.

The Darjeeling Limited is Anderson's best attempt at an actual narrative before all the clutter that takes up the majority of his films. The characters still talk about life like it was written in a fashion magazine, but the themes and character arcs develop over the length of the film. There isn't a dire stench of predictability to the film.

With that said, the end results still don't satisfy. The characters "find themselves" in the end, but it's all too cute and staged to ring true. The majority of the film is still based on Anderson's quircks instead of character detail. Considering the quircks lack true meaning or purpose and just exist to keep Anderson's fan base still amused, there is little progress. I've considered Wes Anderson a cult filmmaker in that he has little interest to please anyone but his core audience. The Darjeeling Limited proves its still true of him. There is little susbstantial growth to welcome any fan who is somewhat questionable of all his stylizations and their lack of significance.