Uncle Paul is a liar: "The Darjeeling Limited"

I mean, India looks like a perfectly nice place. And I didn't see one bowl of bean slop in this entire movie!

The third time was a charm when it came to the Redbox, and the latest from Wes Anderson turned out to be his best effort since "Rushmore" got everyone in a lather a decade ago.

From where I sit, "Bottle Rocket" was amusing enough, while "Rushmore" was really good. "The Royal Tenebaums" was a disappointment, and "The Life Aquatic" was just kind of there. Based on that, I'll confess I didn't have high hopes for "The Darjeeling Limited," and didn't make a point to catch it in theaters. Last week, however, it was the best $1.07 that I spent, hands down.

Our story actually starts with a short film showing a shaggy guy (Jason Schwartzman) and Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) having a weird interlude in a French hotel. It's all very French and tres artistique, and ... whatever. Yeah, you kind of see Natalie's boob, but let's move on to the real movie.

Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson play three brothers who grew apart after their father's death but come together a year later for a train trip across India -- to what purpose later becomes clear. And that's it. We follow their adventures on what Wilson wants to be some spiritual quest. Alas, it's not that easy, and things take a few turns -- one tragic -- before our heroes achieve their goal. It should be said that Wilson is really the only one who wants this, fulfilling some kind of oldest brother role.

Like I said, the plot and the fact that Anderson's recent movies kind of blew didn't pump me up for this. But it turned out to be quite entertaining, and here's why: I liked all three of these guys, which I wouldn't have guessed for various reasons.

First, aren't we all a little tired of Owen Wilson? The guy's range doesn't exactly call to mind Brando, and as much as I like "Wedding Crashers" and his roles in "Meet the Parents," "Zoolander" and even "The Cable Guy" (don't blink), I can take or leave him at this point.

Second ... Schwartzman? Eh. Again, "Rushmore," solid. Since then ... "Shopgirl," maybe? I hated "I Heart Huckabees."

Third, we have Brody. Sure, he won an Oscar. But did you see "King Kong?" The movie was OK, but his role? Pffft. Also didn't think much of him in either "The Village" or "Hollywoodland," despite those two being very different roles. Aside from "Summer of Sam," Brody has never done it for me.

But guess what? All three of these guys and their characters were actually pretty appealing -- not admirable, but appealing -- in "Darjeeling," with Brody probably the best. I don't know ... I just liked his whole stoic bit and irritation at Wilson. And I liked all three brothers manuevering against each other at different times. Compare that with Tenenbaums, where I didn't like anybody. OK, maybe Gene Hackman.

Throw in some funny episodes on the train, some sobering stuff later on and a hot Indian babe -- or HIB, and a guy named Rajiv once told me -- and you've got a movie that's both quirky yet fully accessible. That's a tough thing to pull off, but our man Wes did it here. And he didn't even need bean slop to do it.