"Anyone want to get some cheeseburgers and hit the cemetery?"
STARRING
Gene Hackman
Owen Wilson
Luke Wilson
Gwyneth Paltrow
Danny Glover
Angelica Houston
Ben Stiller
Directed by Wes Anderson, Rated R
The first review posted on this site is The Royal Tenenbaums. I personally am glad that I get to start off with an exceptionally good movie. A bad first review means seven years of bad movies, and I don’t think I could handle that.
What can I say about this movie? First of all, there’s the plot. It centers around Royal Tenenbaum, a man who’s incredibly self-centered and cynical. His view of life is summed up as, “There are no teams” – I for one find that extremely depressing. He feels like he is moving through life all alone. His family hasn’t spoken to him in years, and one day he realizes that something has to be done. So he tells them that he has six weeks to live in order that they’ll come and spend time with him…
I won’t give away much more of the plot than that. This is very much a character-driven movie, and there are many twists and revelations sprinkled throughout. It might be interesting to go back and watch it again, just to pick up on some of the foreshadowing.
This is where The Royal Tenenbaums shines the most. There’s a plethora of characters to keep up with, but the script is so magnificent that the viewer is hardly ever confused about who’s who. There’s a wide variety of people present, from the drugged-up writer to the wandering slut to the once-famous tennis player. The remarkable thing about this movie is that you might find yourself identifying with most, if not all of them. This film is not just about Royal, it’s about everyone in his family and their relationships with each other. There’s Chas, the widower who as a child invented a new breed of mice. There’s Margot, the former playwright who now spends her time wandering aimlessly from place to place and lover to lover. There’s Eli, a man without a family whose main goal seems to join that of the Tenenbaums. All of these characters are so incredibly different from each other, yet they come together for the same purpose.
The acting is top-notch as well. Gene Hackman gives an amazing performance as Royal. Sure, Royal is mean and selfish and cynical and depressed and lonely, but Hackman brings a certain comic quality to him that makes him extremely likeable. This is one guy you’ll love to hate. The other actors (Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Danny Glover to name a few) are also good. With such an all-star cast you could hardly expect the acting to be less.
If there’s anything you’ll notice about this film from the very beginning, it’s the color. I can’t remember the last time I was bombarded with such a kaleidoscope of reds, oranges, greens, blues, and practically every other color that’s been invented. Every scene is so incredibly bright it’s distracting. But in a good way. It serves as a good contrast to the dull and confused lives the characters have, and the directing style is so unique that these colors are impossible not to like. In the hands of an amateur, such vivid illustrations might be too distracting and hinder the film, but Wes Anderson clearly knows what he’s doing. He’s blended things so well that for a few hours it was if I was transported to another world, but one that was never so outrageous as to be unbelievable.
Every family in the world can probably relate to the themes in this movie. It’s about the search for acceptance and the desire to be a united family, cheesy as that may sound. Each of the characters has problems, and yet they’re too afraid to bring these problems out into the open. Just imagine what could happen if we didn’t keep any secrets! Although they are constantly interacting with each other, it’s as if there’s a constant barrier between them. They may pretend to be a normal family, but under the surface they’re as dysfunctional as they come. Then again, what family these days isn’t at least a little dysfunctional? They’re all trying to make sense of the jumbled mess they’ve each made of their lives, and in the end they discover that the only way to do this is to confront their problems and come together - Royal finally does die "saving his family from a sinking battleship", so to speak. Perhaps the fact that these themes are so universal is why it’s so easy to identify with the characters. They represent what we all are looking for at some time during our lives: meaning, truth, acceptance. This sounds like a pretty “Christian” message to me, don’t you think? One that we all can relate to and yet for some reason enjoy seeing on screen.
With that being said, it should not be assumed that The Royal Tenenbaums is a perfect movie. It’s not. There are a few pacing problems; some of time the movie seems to drag on for a bit too long. Also, there is some objectionable material in case you’re concerned about whether or not to see this film. There is some profanity (though far less than I expected) and a few F-bombs are dropped. Plus, there are a few sexual conversations, and in one scene there is a brief shot of Margot kissing another woman that shows nudity and seems to be merely gratuitous. However, if you can get over these imperfections long enough to appreciate what the film is trying to say, you won’t be disappointed.
The Bottom Line: This is a good movie that has a lot to say about the way families are today.
Should I see it? If you can get over the objectionable material, then absolutely.
The Royal Tenenbaums rates as a 8/10 due to some slight imperfections and offensive material.