The Darjeeling Limited

Finally made it to The Darjeeling Limited last night, and we both loved it. The Metacritic ratings run from 100 down to 25. Perhaps a good percentage of friends and family would agree with the 25, but I can't imagine any Anderson fan not loving it, and I enjoyed it much more than Life Aquatic.

When it comes to creating films, Anderson's his own man. I don't believe he aspires to make the film some critics damn him for not making. When that's the case, much of the criticism seems undue. One of the things for which I respect Roger Ebert is his insistence on evaluating a film in reference to that which it aspires to be.

On Darjeeling, Ebert writes: "I said the movie meanders. It will therefore inspire reviews complaining that it doesn't fly straight as an arrow at its target. But it doesn't have a target, either. Why do we have to be the cops and enforce a narrow range of movie requirements? Anderson is like Dave Brubeck, who I'm listening to right now. He knows every note of the original song, but the fun and genius come in the way he noodles around. And in his movie's cast, especially with Owen Wilson, Anderson takes advantage of champion noodlers." (3.5/4 stars)