DVD Review: Royal Tenenbaums, The (B+)

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Directed by Wes Anderson
Starring Gene Hackman, Angelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Danny Glover, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow and Owen & Luke Wilson
MPAA: R
Grade: B+

Review by Scott Standish

Wes Anderson is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors. Anderson has come out of nowhere to craft three great dark comedies in a row: Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and now, The Royal Tenenbaums. All of these films are funny, yet intelligent; quirky, yet coherent; and most of all not too serious, yet a bit thought provoking at the end. The Royal Tenenbaums is probably the quirkiest of the three, and for some people, this film might just be too weird. But for those of us that look for dark comedies with a bit more intelligence than Ace Ventura or anything made by Adam Sandler, this film is a real treat.

The Royal Tenenbaums relates the history of the Tenenbaum family, a group of strange but brilliant New Yorkers. Gene Hackman plays Royal Tenenbaum, a shady lawyer and horrible father. His wife Etheline, played by Angelica Huston, is no June Cleaver herself, and not surprisingly, their children turn out to be incredibly strange geniuses. Chas (Ben Stiller) is a financial wiz, Margot (Gwneth Paltrow) is a successful playwright and Richie (Luke Wilson) is a world class tennis champion.

Everything has fallen apart however, as Royal has abandoned the family, and the family grows increasingly disfunctional. Margot has been smoking secretly since she was 12 and Richie Tenenbaum has had an emotional breakdown after rising to the top of the tennis profession. Although these don't sound like very funny situations, the way in which the smart script (by Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson) makes slight fun of the characters, all the while remaining sympathetic, makes this film a comedy with sophistication.

Royal tries to to rally his family back together under the pretense that he is dying and everyone converges in the Tenenbaum household. Etheline Tenenbaum gets courted by Henry Sherman (Danny Glover) and soon the whole house is in an uproar as Royal tries to win her back. Everyone in this film seems a bit odd, so everyone gets made fun of equally.

With three straight edgy comedies hitting their mark, director Wes Anderson has quietly established himself as one of the director's to watch in Hollywood. Both Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore have featured Bill Murray in exceptional roles and we hope to see that continue, as they obviously work well together. The Royal Tenenbaums works as a dark comedy, but it also leaves the audience re-examining their own lives, wondering if there is a little "Tenenbaum" in themselves, and if so, is that such a bad thing?

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