The Darjeeling Limited DVD
Posted by John Campeaon 21. 02. 2008in News Chat
The Darjeeling Limited faced something of an uphill battle from the start in terms of getting a lot of popular attention. It’s not the type of film that’s designed or intended to be a blockbuster, but rather a deeper, less flashy comedy that plays more off of oddities, idiosyncrasies , quirks and oddities that dwell within all of us that Wes Anderson seems to have a special talent for touching on.
Added to the drama of the film’s release was the Owen Wilson’s incident. I recently wrote a post asking if people were ready to see Owen Wilson on screen again without being distracted or tainted if you will by the unfortunate situation surrounding Wilson. That was now… months later… at the time it was nothing short of awkward, and even though Anderson’s films don’t generally score massive box office returns, The Darjeeling Limited only managed to make under $12 million. And that’s a shame, because the movie, while certainly not Anderson’s best, is something pretty special, and is coming on DVD this coming Tuesday the 26th.
“Three American brothers who have not spoken to each other in a year set off on a train voyage across India with a plan to find themselves and bond with each other — to become brothers again like they used to be. Their “spiritual quest”, however, veers rapidly off-course (due to events involving over-the-counter pain killers, Indian cough syrup, and pepper spray), and they eventually find themselves stranded alone in the middle of the desert with eleven suitcases, a printer, and a laminating machine. At this moment, a new, unplanned journey suddenly begins.”
Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody were both extremely good in the film, the humor was wonderful and the awkward yet determined chemistry between the 3 leads felt so authentic that it drew me in and got me emotionally invested in the film. The investment (in a film like this) is absolutely essential. Without it, the movie would feel drawn out, and rather boring… but when you do buy into the characters in a film like this, you feel like you’re taking the trip along with them, eager and interested in seeing where the journey will take you, and that was my experience watching The Darjeeling Limited.
If you haven’t seen the film yet (or even if you have) this is one you should definitely check out this Tuesday.
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one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time.
The music fit the movie well, the acting was a little weird in spots but its was a fun laugh your ass off and pray you don’t have a brother kind of movie.
I drove about 100 miles so I could catch it on it’s opening day in LA. Very worth doing I might add. Can’t wait to have this in my collection of movies…
“I LOVE YOU TOO BUT I’M GOING TO MACE YOU IN THE FACE!” Probably one of the best lines I’ve ever heard. I have loved every Wes Anderson film and this movie does not fail at all. I was happy to watch this last week and I will suggest it to all of my customers next Tuesday (Asst. manager at a Blockbuster). One of the many perks is getting the movies early. Of course, my roommates love that perk. But yeah, everyone should give this a chance. Wonderful story telling and acting.
Is Criterion releasing the DVD?
I didn’t get the hype about this film. It wasn’t especially funny and I found that it seemed to become the slushy “finding yourself” movie it was trying to parody.
I saw this movie at a screening in Philly last October with Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman in attendance. I liked it, but didn’t love it. (I AM a Wes Anderson fan.) The dialogue was so sharp and real and the montage scene at the end literally took my breath away. However, I felt that some aspects of the plot tried too hard to be emotionally manipulative.
I agree with you that the Owen Wilson situation hurt the movie. It just felt too awkward for some and then there were those rumblings of “publicity stunt”, even though Anderson was quoted at the time as saying that the incident was “bad timing, beyond bad timing.” (I believe he really meant that.) Still – yikes … not so good for box office.
I think that WA got screwed on this one. When a reporter offered him sympathy on one of his close friends having tried to commit suicide, he was quick to answer, “Being close to death is not an accurate description of what he (Owen Wilson) experienced.” He has also said that people have “misconceptions, radical misconceptions” of what happened to Owen.
WA has known Owen for a long time. I think he knows that Owen is a depressive who cuts to relieve stress (and not to kill himself – who cuts ONE wrist and high up – to kill themselves?) and that Owen was super-high when he did just that again last August. “Suicide attempt” was the easiest (and the most-sympathy inducing) explanation for the cops and the public and the media ran with it (natch) and Anderson’s movie got screwed.
That would also explain why OW agreed to attend the premiere of this film in L.A. less than two months after his “suicide attempt” and also why he did the MySpace interview with Wes, probably against his publicist’s wishes for him to “hide out” and let the whole thing die down. (Owen is STILL under strict orders not to say a word to reporters.) It was probably because Owen felt that he really owed Wes.
BTW – speaking of Owen’s publicists, those people really deserve a raise! Well-orchestrated photo-ops of him looking relaxed at the beach with his older brother (even getting a picture of the scar!), strategic appearances at parties in NY and L.A., a fake girlfriend halfway through the six-month recovery period (Le Call, who was promptly discarded when the blogsphere reacted unfavorably to her), a charity trip to Peru and a gig presenting at the OSCARS almost six months to the day of his “attempt”! He’s at the OSCARS and no-one takes a picture of him on the red carpet or gets a word out of him! Wow!! Kudos to them – Owen is certainly someone’s golden goose and they are trying very hard to keep him from losing his head …
I really really liked this movie. I wasn’t expecting too after so many people said it was not so great. But i loved it.
I hope it goes to Blu-Ray so i can add it to my HD collection.