Anderson's fans like Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly remain impressed. As she writes, "there's a startling new maturity in 'Darjeeling,' a compassion for the larger world that busts the confines of the filmmaker's miniaturist instincts. (A jolting, unironic plot turn may even shock.) I don't know which came first — inspiration provided by the beauty and complexity of India, or an attraction to India because of a wiser heart."

A.O. Scott of The New York Times was more reserved with his praise, noting that, "to call 'The Darjeeling Limited' precious is less a critical judgment than a simple statement of fact, equivalent to saying that the movie is in color, that it’s set in India or that it’s 91 minutes long." He goes on to say, "precious, in any case, is a word with two meanings, which both might apply. This shaggy-dog road trip, in which three semi-estranged brothers travel by rail across India, is unstintingly fussy, vain and self-regarding. But it is also a treasure: an odd, flawed, but nonetheless beautifully handmade object as apt to win affection as to provoke annoyance. You might say that it has sentimental value."

Claudia Puig of USA Today recounts Anderson's resume while giving the film a mixed review. "Fans of 'The Royal Tenenbaums' are bound to enjoy Darjeeling, which has a similar feel. It is superior to the flawed 'Life Aquatic,' Anderson's last film. But in the director's canon, it doesn't have the touching sweetness of the superb 'Rushmore' or the manic energy of Anderson's first feature, 'Bottle Rocket.' It is a delight to look at, with its vibrant colors, iconic images and exotic setting, and the film has a meandering feel that captures the sense of trekking across India. One of the film's best assets is its lack of predictability and sense of caprice and possibility. Anderson's characters tend to be eccentrics or lost souls, or both. The trio in 'The Darjeeling Limited' appears changed profoundly by their sojourn, though their realizations are rarely articulated. Much of their insights are found between the lines of the film's original dialogue."

And Jack Mathews of the New York Daily News wondered why the film was opening the fest, calling it "a slapstick comedy about three brothers traveling through India (or is it Ishtar?) that is marginally better than Anderson's last film, 'The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.'" He adds that, "in light of star Owen Wilson's apparent suicide attempt, and the bandages covering facial injuries on his character that may have been self-inflicted, it might have been prudent for the film's distributor to withdraw it from the festival and delay its release."