Two months ago I spent far too many paragraphs here on an internal debate over whether or not I liked The Darjeeling Limited. My conclusion, or lack thereof, was that I liked it, disliked it, didn't like it, and didn't dislike it. At any rate, here's another Wes Anderson movie that's left me unable to give any real definitive reactions. The characters, their quirks, and the bizarrely specific bits of history given on each of them were entertaining and endearing, but the movie itself didn't seem quite as good as I've been expecting it to be for close to ten years now. Once again, I'm not sure why.
Instead of being negative and overwrought though, let me focus on one aspect of the movie I really emphatically and unequivocally loved: the introduction. In the first six minutes of the film, Anderson provides us a rich and vibrant picture of an eccentric family with three child prodigies. It felt like a Salinger short story from the get-go and it set the table for a potentially outstanding and unforgettable movie about the melancholy decline of a dysfunctional family of oddball elitists. Check it out for yourself and see if you agree:
The thing is, the hundred minutes that followed just weren't quite on that same level. There were some great performances, great scenes, and great jokes, but not since Pixar's Up have I seen a movie start out so promising only to fade immediately into something not nearly as good. Still good - don't get me wrong - but a minor letdown compared to the way it began.
I'm far from done with Wes Anderson, though. I've still got his first movie, his breakout hit, and his recent magnum opus in my backlog. Stay tuned.
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