"The Darjeeling Limited" is a hard film to review. On one hand, it is the latest offering from one of the finest voices in American film, Wes Anderson.  On the other hand, the film highlights Anderson's seeming unwillingness to grow as a director. "The Darjeeling Limited" feels just like a trip we have taken three or four times before with Mr. Anderson.

Anderson's breakout film, "Rushmore," and the follow up,"The Royal Tenenbaums," are two of the freshest and funniest movies in the history of American comedy. They are stories told with real heart, without ever losing sight of the absurdity that makes them so appealing.  Anderson's 2004 film, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" was, at best, a misfire. The film is overly long and never fully develops into a narrative that the audience is able to grasp.

With "The Darjeeling Limited," Anderson has addressed the issues of running time (the film clocks in at a short 91 minutes), but fails to develop a cohesive narrative.

The film follows three brothers, portrayed by Anderson film veterans Owen Wilson (whose face bandages are the film's most hilarious sight gag), Jason Schwartzman, and Adrien Brody, a newcomer to the odd world of Wes Anderson films.

The three brothers meet up on a train in India (The Darjeeling Limited) after having not spoken to each other for over a year. Brother Francis (Wilson) envisions the trip as both a spiritual reawakening and an attempt to reconnect with his estranged brothers. Writer/womanizer and brother Jack (Schwartzman) uses the trip to score chicks and run avoid his girlfriend (an extremely brief cameo from Natalie Portman). Brother Peter also has his own selfish reasons for the journey.

The film truly shines during the first two acts. Everything about the brother's journey on the Darjeeling Limited is fantastic. The script is funny, the editing is fast-paced and the performances are brilliant. Brody blends in perfectly with the cast of Anderson regulars.

However, the film takes a nose dive in its final act. The momentum grinds to a halt, and the last 30 minutes of the film seem like three hours.

The movie lacks focus. One minute its about madcap adventures on a train, the other minute its about each brother's idiosyncratic traits and the other minute its about an attempt to reconnect with the brother's estranged mother. The film is never able to combine these loose plot threads into one cohesive unit.

Again, this movie just feels like everything we have seen before from Anderson. All of Anderson's films seem to be about men (or boys) who refuse to act their age, whether it be Gene Hackman's Royal Tenenbaum in "The Royal Tenenbaums," or Jason Schwartzman as Max Fischer and Bill Murray's Herman Blume in "Rushmore." Here, we are presented with three brothers all avoiding some responsibility. Schwartzman's  Jack is really just Max Fischer, ten years later.

That being said, this is a Wes Anderson film. With a Wes Anderson film, you really know what you are getting yourself in to.  There are plenty of slow-motion shots and the standard diverse soundtrack. Those things are fine. Personally, I just wanted to see Anderson give us a little something more with the film's narrative and characters.

The movie does have some truly phenomenal moments. Amara Karan absolutely shines as Rita, the head stewardess on the train.  The locales are completely breathtaking. Anderson has a real talent for capturing far away lands people like me will probably never see (whether that be the the country of India here or a sleepy mid-western town in "Rushmore").

With "The Darjeeling Limited," Anderson decides to play to his strengths. The result is a film that's just good, if a little uninspired. While this film is definitely worth a look, there is nothing here that elevates this to the level of the year's best, much less Anderson's previous masterpieces.