Family isn't a word...It's a sentence.

Royal Tenenbaum (Hackman) is a pig of a father and a husband. He neglected the needs of his genius children as they grew up and cheated on his wife (Huston). And now he says he is dying of cancer and that he desperately wants to be back in their lives, perhaps for his own selfish reasons, perhaps out of a sense of guilt. The children are all very strange, even for a family as dysfunctional as this one. One (Stiller) was a business tycoon at the age of 12, one (Luke Wilson) was a pro tennis player who ruled the game until an emotional breakdown during a match against a man named Gandhi, and the other (Paltrow) was a semi successful playwright who hides the fact that she smokes from everyone. Their lives have all crashed and burned and now they are all insecure weirdoes with major issues holding them down.

I am still not quite sure what to make of the film. I found myself smirking all the way through the movie expecting at any minute to let out a good hard belly laugh... but it never came. The script is very understated and each of the actors are very subtle in their roles. But the quiet way the film made me smile ever so slightly for its entire running length allows me to recommend the film ever so slightly. Those who found Rushmore to be hilarious will no doubt dig this film, but I fear most viewers will be left floundering with an uncertain emotion... 'should I feel happy, sad, silly, or miserable?' Most of us are not be able to balance those simultaneous emotions as well as the film does and that is why The Royal Tenenbaums will be greeted with mixed reviews.

© Written by TC Candler

How We Rated This Film TC Candler - B- Richard Propes - B Jacob Hall -

Richard Propes' Comment

"The Royal Tenenbaums" is a challenging film to embrace because writer/director Wes Anderson chose to create a film that is constantly bouncing between laughter and sadness and stillness. Anderson and co-writer Owen Wilson have created characters that keep the audience on its toes. From one moment to the next, it is impossible to discern when to laugh, when to cry, and when to gasp. While this may hinder the film in terms of its widespread acceptance, it ultimately creates a more satisfying film. Anderson refuses to evoke knee-jerk reactions from the audience, instead presenting the characters in a wide variety of situations and allowing, even encouraging, the audience to have their own cinematic experience. The performances across the board are strong, most notably that of Gene Hackman as patriarch Tenenbaum, and those of Bill Murray and Gwyneth Paltrow, whose acting styles are perfectly suited to a film such as this one.

Jacob Hall's Comment

n/a