There is something oddly familiar about going to India, the most spiritual place in the world, to find yourself. Maybe it’s Gandhi. Maybe it’s the sheer volume of outsourced labor currently being implemented in our corporate America. Maybe it’s (and this being the most likely reason) Alanis Morissette. The feeling of de ja vu doesn’t end with India, however, as anyone who is familiar with Anderson’s work should be well aware of his penchant for familial tragicomedies.

Wes Anderson’s latest film following 2004’s “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou”, takes us back to the Canadian chanteuse’s land of enlightenment to witness three estranged brothers attempting to rediscover themselves and rekindle the fires of their long since extinguished Bro’ mance. Peter, Jack, and Francis Whitman climb aboard “The Darjeeling Limited”, a lush, luxury train that crosses the vast expanse of India, with a massive amount of prominently featured Louis Vuitton luggage - a crystal clear symbol of the brothers’ own emotional baggage. Each brother embarks on the exotic road trip, Kerouac-style, for a selfish reason: Francis (Owen Wilson), to recover from a motorcycle accident and bring the siblings together, Peter (Adrian Brody), to escape a marriage to a woman he can’t connect to and the imminent birth of his son, and Jack (Jason Schwartzman), to recover from a ex-girlfriend he can’t give up. Through a random turn of events, they decide to visit their mother, Patricia (beautifully played by Anderson-regular Angelica Huston), who refused to attend their father’s funeral. She, of course, is conveniently shacked up in a convent in India. Go figure.

As a fan of Wes Anderson’s unique visual style, it is hard to weigh the merits against the demerits of “The Darjeeling Limited.” On one hand, bolstered with the support of cinematographer Robert Yeoman, the film reads as a stunning exploration of exotic cultures and locales, daintily presented in a mildly convoluted story of family woes. Anderson’s precision placement of props and actors within the frame and his clever use of foreground and background are hard to overlook or take for granted. The visual stimulation alone is well worth the price of admission. On the other hand, it would be impossible to deny that the freshness that took hold of audiences upon first watching “The Royal Tennenbaums” is now dangerously close to becoming a played out formula. Yes, quirky “characters” and dialogue are still nice. Yes, the monotonous delivery of lines is still effective. Yes, the seemingly random events are still appreciated. And yes, the 70s music is always fun to listen to. However, like the train, it is limited. Anderson seems to be sitting in place, or more appropriately, riding a slow train with no real destination while we wait for him to him to rise above and beyond our expectations.

Either way you look at it, Wes Anderson is one of the most refreshing filmmakers in recent years. In fact, “The Darjeeling Limited” is, without a doubt, a vast improvement upon “The Life Aquatic,” bringing us back to the slightly more relatable somber comic stylings seen in the “Tennenbaums.” Die-hard fans will indulge and first timers will be lured in by the visuals and heartfelt sentiment. Welcome to yet another installment of Wes Anderson’s wacky funhouse of a brain.