There’s something distant, if not perversely aloof, about the movies of the director Wes Anderson. His frames are crammed with miscellaneous yet rigorously controlled bric-a-brac. His sets are gaudy testaments to art-design overdrive. His preferred performance method is deadpan. His movies, such as Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, tend to drive audiences into two camps: those who see them as emotionally dead baubles wrapped in self-regarding irony; and those who see them as the apotheosis of film craftsmanship.

The Darjeeling Limited, Anderson’s latest venture, is hardly going to bridge that gap in perception. The movie tackles spiritualism and happiness by sending three bickering brothers, Francis, Peter and Jack Whitman (Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman), to India on the titular train for a journey of self-discovery. The men haven’t spoken since their father’s funeral and each is burdened with a tragic character flaw: Francis is suicidal; Peter is fleeing from his relationship; and Jack is recovering from a broken heart. Along the way they squabble, are ejected from the train, search for their long-lost mother (Anjelica Huston) and try to find spiritual purification.

That all of this is done tongue-in-cheek rubbishes the film’s emotional aims. Yet the devil, as always with Anderson, is in the detail. The way that the older brother Francis orders food for his younger siblings and the unspoken paternal affection between Francis and Jack – when combined with Anderson’s smart use of pop classics and gorgeous slow-motion photography – create something compelling and emotionally satisfying. It may not have you weeping in the aisles, but it will be with you for days after you see it.

The Darjeeling Limited
15, 91mins

Explore Film

• Film Reviews

• DVD

• Oscars

• Bollywood

Editor's choice

• Gordon Brown’s secret to stayin’ alive
• What’s up with Woody?
• Can Cannes get serious?