The Royal Tenenbaums

Current theatrical release

There are a lot of reviews and articles about the brilliance of Wes Anderson and the unqualified success of his most recent film, The Royal Tennenbaums. It certainly is a good film and it is a lot better than most other popular movies you could pay to see. Still, the shower of praise is probably indicative more of a slow year in filmmaking than of the quality of the movie. The film is bold in its style but it never seems to be free of a self-congratulatory air. You can always feel the director pulling strings or setting up the next great shot.

The Tenenbaums loosely resemble J.D. Salinger's Glass family. Here, though, the adolescent geniuses are grown into adults struggling through various stages of breakdowns. The three children are brought back together by the return of their father, Royal Tennenbaum (Gene Hackman), who had been estranged from them for most of their lives. He claims to be dying and returns to make amends for his neglect. Royal is full of energy and looks like he would do anything to shake the dust off of his gloomy kids. He is brutish with his words at times, and it is easy to see why his children would feel inferior. The only one who really stands up to him is Chas, his oldest son and the one most wanting his father's love. Richie (Luke Wilson), a former tennis pro who suffers a nervous breakdown during a match, feels for Royal and wants to believe in him again; Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), a playwright, seems like she's never quite sure what to do. Too often the three children seem defined solely by their costumes; Chas' red sweat suit, Margot's fur coat, or Richie's tennis headband and sunglasses. The clothes, despite some interesting back-stories, sometimes feel like the extent of the three children's characterization.

The actors, except for Gene Hackman and Luke Wilson, are oddly subdued throughout. Everyone seems to be half-awake. Why would you take an actor as electric as Owen Wilson and have him doped-up in almost every scene? Ben Stiller's Chas is in a similar boat. He seems to bubble quite a lot but never really boil. Everyone in the movie seems to be buried under something: Bill Murray can never escape his over-grown beard; Paltrow's eyes are encircled in black mascara; and Owen Wilson's cowboy hat almost upstages him. When Richie shaves off his long hair and beard the movie manages to pick up some steam but it never really gets all the way there. Luke Wilson's is really the standout performance. His is the only character whose quiet restraint feels justified; he never tells you if you should be laughing or crying. He fills out his character and the movie moves along better when he is on screen. Hackman is energetic and a lot of fun to watch but his energy seems to underscore just how downbeat everyone else is. He has some great scenes, though, and looks to be having more fun than anyone else. It's the only really fun role in the movie.

Even the music is dreary. One Nico song is enough for any movie and none of the music fills you up the way the excellent soundtrack to Rushmore did. Still, a dreary soundtrack to an Anderson film is better than 95% of what is playing behind most movies nowadays.

By the end everything works out well for the Tenenbaums and we can leave the theatre proud that we avoided wasting our time with a big Hollywood debacle. The film is a sideways-step for Anderson, though, and doesn't build on the momentum he created with Rushmore. That film would have been a tough act for anyone to follow, so perhaps it was a good idea to slow things down with Tenenbaums. The city backgrounds he uses are fantastic and the deep colors along with the unique, if sometimes overbearing, wardrobes help create a separate world for the viewer. The film has enough genuinely great lines and the atmosphere he builds draws you in enough to suggest that he is far from through.

Related resources

There's a nice official site for the movie. It even features instructions read by Owen Wilson, to help you with the confusing UI.

Wes Anderson has been interviewed in The Onion and Salon.