“…an elegant freak show.” – Sacramento Bees

I finally sat down and watched The Royal Tenenbaums last weekend. Being a fan of pretty much the entire cast, I had wanted to see it for quite some time. The film’s cast includes Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Danny Glover, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, and of course, a lovely narration from none other than Alec Baldwin. Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson teamed up to write an exceptionally sharp and witty script about one particularly dysfunctional family.

The plot of this film consists of extremely implausible incidences with characters that are very eccentric. Royal Tenenbaum (Hackman), the father of three unusual child prodigies (Paltrow, Stiller, Wilson), discovers his wife, Etheline (Huston), is engaged to be married. He also finds that he is in financial turmoil. Royal left his wife and children years ago and had nothing to do with them but a divorce was never filed. As I said, his children all grew up as prodigies. Chas (Stiller) bred spotted “Dalmatian mice” as a child and ended up being a financial mastermind. Richie (L. Wilson) was a nationally renowned tennis player and won the national championship three years in a row. Margot (Paltrow) becomes a famous playwright at a young age. By the time their father returns their lives have all fallen apart and they are back living with their mother. Royal reveals to his family that he has an illness and is left with only six weeks to live. This is when the odd reunion begins, and that’s only the back story.

Some critics assess this movie as being too stylized, but I think that aspect really works for this film because the film is so out-of-the-ordinary already. They aren’t trying to pass it off as realistic by any means. “…Anderson and co-writer Owen Wilson were able to weave such seemingly unlikely material into a tale of reconciliation and redemption. While the film has lots of sarcastic humor, it ultimately offers hope and warmth”, says Ivana Redwine (nice name, I know). I thought her remark was pretty dead-on.

The Royal Tenenbaums is definitely not your cliché Hollywood comedy. A little over half-way through, the plot becomes darker and much more somber as characters begin to face the not-so-funny reality… particularly, Luke Wilson’s character Richie. As for the direction, I noticed that the way the movie was shot really added to the overall effect of the film. Many overhead shots and far away shots are used. I noticed that many of the shots are filmed much further back than they need to be, letting viewers see the entire rooms or surroundings. I liked it because I love seeing the way props are laid out and also observing the way the characters live.

Anyways, I think it is a greatly written, acted, and directed film. Even if you don’t enjoy it you’ll probably still admire Wes Anderson for his writing and directing. Check it out.

Liz