2007 dramatic comedyRating: 15/20 (Jen: 18/20)
Plot: Three brothers who haven't seen each other in the year following the funeral of their father embark on a spiritual journey via train through India. Along the way, they annoy people, argue, whine about stuff, search for spiritual awakening, get high, act like Americans, nearly bond, argue again, and annoy more people. Relationships are strained as they run into problems and uncover truths, and they eventually find themselves thrown off the train and stranded in the desert with far too many suitcases and a laminating machine. Hotel Chevalier, a short featuring Jason Schwartzman's character and co-starring Natalie Portman's ribs, preceeds the feature.
More amusing Life Aquatic than brilliant Rushmore or Tenenbaums but filled with plenty of heart and subtle humor just like you'd expect from Wes Anderson's movies. The movie bursts with color, and meticulous direction (I can just imagine lots of "That camel needs to be moved two and a half feet to the left.") adds to the already natural on-location beauty. The characters, though wallowing in their own faults, are likable, and their rapport is often hilarious--the "asshole" line forced a giggle out of me again, and a character's line about a tiger got me this time. Lots of film-school-type symbolism in this, especially in the end, and the story seems a little clunky at times. I believe I liked this exactly .5 points more than when I saw it in the theater (Jen's rating increased a full point), and there may be more connections or secrets picked up in future viewings. And that's really the best thing about Anderson's movies--I can watch these again and again. He's another director whose quirky attention to detail and subtle humor molds movies that couldn't be made by anybody else. Oh, and the music, mostly recycled stuff from Indian film soundtracks with some Kinks and Rolling Stones thrown in, really works well throughout.
Us:
That's the scene. This was a rare visit to the theater for Jen and me. She really really likes this one although I did have to wake her up a couple times last night. She has trouble making it all the way through movies. She does work a lot harder than I ever will though.
ReplyDeleteJust curious...did you like 'The Life Aquatic'? People I know didn't, and it doesn't seem that people I don't know liked it very much either. I liked it only a tiny bit less than 'Darjeeling' though. Again, it's got the water thing going for it, so I'd assume you'd at least like it for that.
yeah i liked life aquatic but of course not as much as rushmore and tennebaums. like you said though his movies ages well and get better with re-watching. all of his movies went up in points on my second viewing.
ReplyDeleterushmore: 9.5
tennenbaums: 9.6
aqutatic: 8.3
darjeeling: 8.7
oh yeah can you make me my own entry to put all my ratings in?
ReplyDelete