Wes Anderson is one of those filmmakers who inspires blind praise and hatred, sometimes in the same breath. I have read his supporters who say anyone who doesn't like his films just doesn't get them and isn't open to the message. I have read his detractors who say he is pretentious, untalented, and his films go nowhere and do nothing other than say: "Hey look! I'm an indie filmmaker, look how indie I can be!" To a certain extent I agree with both sides of the argument. I think that he has bought into his own hype and is trying too hard to be quirky and weird. The Darjeeling Limited is a good example of this. It is a movie that I really wanted to like, but in the end I could only enjoy parts of it. Overall I can't help but think that Anderson has peaked and is on a backslide. Will it last? Not likely, but it is possible.

The Darjeeling Limited is the story of three brothers, Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody), and Jack (Jason Schwartzman). The trio have not spoken in the year since their father's funeral. Francis has now set up a spiritual journey for them, they will be traveling across India on the Darjeeling Limited train with their absentee mother as the final destination. Now, the brothers do not exactly get along, their spending time together is clearly more due to family ties rather than any real friendship, though I suppose some of that is there as well. 

As soon as the film starts the brothers' journey begins. Each of them have their individual quirks, from Francis' controlling nature (down to having a hidden assistant delivering laminated itineraries), Peter's materialistic ways, and Jack's issues with dealing with women. In addition to those quirks they have the baggage of their shared familial past. There is definitely something about their relationships with their parents that they have carried with them on their life journeys.

Of course, along the journey come sibling squabbles and all manner of impediments to their spiritual enlightenment. In order for them to be able to get on with their lives they need to come to terms with their past and with each other. It is interesting to note that not much of their collective past is revealed. We are left to figure out their issues by examining them in the present.

I admit that there were moments of interest, some of the dialogue was funny, and there were even sequences that worked. The problem is when we arrive at the end I found that I did not care about any of them. I didn't care if they were able to get on with their lives, I didn't care if they learned to live with each other, and I didn't care if they got over the loss of their father. I didn't care. I was too distracted by the "Look how indie I am" feel of the proceedings.