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I love Wes Anderson films and feel that the further down the road he gets the better his work becomes.  While The Royal Tenenbaums may never be outdone, Darjeeling is an instant classic.  I admit that I had my reservations with Adrian Brody’s introduction into troupe of regulars.  To my delight he was fantastic!  His ability to play grief stricken, disturbed characters is uncanny and he turned out to be really funny as well.  Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman are classically uncomfortably and awkwardly charming.  I almost leaped in my seat when I saw Bill Murray and literally laughed out loud when I saw Pagoda.  The colors and sets in all Wes Anderson films are amazing and this did not fail to please.  Beautiful shots through Indian themed backdrops were absolutely classic.

Now for the brass tacks…   I realize that this film doesn’t break a lot of new ground and in fact it repeats a few themes familiar in Rushmore and Tenenbaums.  However, the transitions make a bit more sense than normal and the characters, though quite odd, are believeable enough to think you could see them in real life.  At the end of the day, Darjeeling is basically what you expect when you plug in an Anderson flick.  Whimsical, bizarre and completely satisfying.