The Darjeeling Limited

Before I start, let me state the obvious here: Natalie Portman needs to eat something and Jason Schwartzman can't act. In the short that preceeds the film, Portman poses completely naked and she is positively skeletal- not thin, but skeletal. Each rib is well defined. It is a horrifying look for a beautiful young woman. Schwartzman, like his cousin Sofia Coppola, is so flat in another way and untalented in everything he does that he is the poster child for Hollywood entitlement. Maybe he could be seen as having anorexia of acting? He was awful in his first film and will be awful til the last. Guess all the acting talent in that family went to Nick Cage. Now down to the story- I think this movie is the best one that Wes Anderson has done. If you don't like Anderson's films, you won't like this one. But it has the predictable quirky characters doing quirky things and yet, it doesn't have the strange feeling of "the characters are odd because they have to be" of the Royal Tannenbaums or the lameness of The Life Aquatic. A lot of faces will look familiar, and that is part of the fun. Finding Anderson's friends from previous films in the background is like a cinematic where's waldo. India is such a different country from ours- some of the most meaningful religious rituals, yet some of the most polluted areas in the world. As if the soul is more important than the quality of life. It is so homogeneous in population that gringos stand out like poppies in a rice field. Because of their homogeneity, the culture is rich, but also ripe for the lampooning. Was Anderson making fun of the depth of their rituals or the stupidity of the people who use those rituals in a superficial way and then think they are more spiritual? I don't know. But I do love the color of marigolds, and the movie is full of it. It is more quirky than funny, and more superficial than deep, and more light than dark. We saw it in a packed theater where some people (older) were compelled to talk back to the screen and laughed out loud. Another mystery to ponder.