![]() Narrator: “Immediately after making this statement, Royal realized that it was true.”Īvailable to stream on Amazon Prime and to rent on Google Play, YouTube, iTunes, Vudu, Microsoft, Amazon, FandangoNOW, DIRECTV, AMC Theatres on Demand. But I just wanna say the last six days have been the best six days of probably my whole life.” Royal: “Look, I know I’m gonna be the bad guy on this one. Gene Hackman might give his best performance as Royal whom we grow to love despite himself. The ensemble which includes Angelica Huston, Bill Murray, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson and Danny Glover are all sensational. There’s a surprisingly warm touch to all of this. The soundtrack to the movie of 60s songs ranging from Paul Simon to Nico (who serves an inspiration to the way Margot dresses) sets the perfect tone. In the climactic scene, Anderson does a long take – panning the camera left to right – down the street and showing you individual vignettes of the characters interacting with one another around a fire engine truck – and visually reconciling them. The adult versions of the Tenenbaums are wearing the same clothes they did as children – as if they never evolved. There’s an absurdist quality to it all, but all of the design elements explain the characters and the themes within the story. Taking a cue from Orson Welles’ “The Magnificent Ambersons,” Anderson exploits the frame as a proscenium arch where he meticulously creates specific worlds that feel to me like a doll house or pictures in a book come alive. ![]() With his wry and offbeat sense of humor, Anderson explores these characters that have to confront the chasms between the expectations of the past and their current realities. It’s a good thing they’re all back home – where they will deal with the past and figure out how to mend all wounds. He is also in love with Margot and hooked on mescaline. To complicate things even further, there’s Eli Cash, their childhood friend from across the street and Richie’s best friend. And Richie imploded during a tennis tournament after seeing Margot on the stand with her husband – the neurologist Raleigh St. Margot is in an unhappy marriage – has a secret past that she hasn’t shared with anyone and spends all day in the bath and unable to write a good play. Chas’ wife died in a plane accident, leaving him with two young children and he now buries himself in his work – afraid that if they get out of the house tragedy may strike again. Their children who didn’t live up to the great expectations of their youth move back in one by one. The notion of her getting remarried causes a tremor in the foundation of the family. She has had many suitors but has been aloof until her long-time, Black accountant Henry Sherman professes his love. In order to move back into their mansion, he lies to Etheline that he has cancer and only six weeks to live. It is now 22 years later and Royal is living in a hotel and unable to make payments. “In fact, virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums had been erased by two decades of betrayal, failure and disaster.” “He had not been invited to any of their parties since,” the narrator says. Royal was harsh to Margot’s play on her 11th birthday. It is announced that mom and dad have decided to separate. We meet entrepreneur Chas whom dad steals from, the tennis sensation Richie who also paints loving portraits of his adopted sister, and the dramatist Margot – who got a grant to write a play in ninth grade. The narration – in a style reminiscent of “Franny and Zooey” – tells about the eccentric family that is led by a narcissist named Royal, his wife Etheline, who is an anthropologist – and their three young genius children. This is an exquisitely and beautifully crafted film that from the get-go establishes its literary feel – starting with an upside-down book being taken out of the library – with the title “The Royal Tenenbaums” emblazoned on its cover. ![]() Its message, its warmth, its humor, its eccentricity and wit are desperately needed right now when we all can relate to the Tenenbaums’ disconnectedness. This was the first film that I saw in the autumn following 9/11 that brought me a sense of healing and hope – since it took place in New York and dealt with a dysfunctional family that is going through a spiritual and existential breakdown – each of them feeling uniquely isolated – but are ultimately reawakened and redeemed by love. What is the matter with me?! First of all it is directed by one of the most distinctive voices in cinema – Wes Anderson – whose style I’ve been teaching for years in my classes. I can’t believe I hadn’t recommended “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001) earlier. I feel like a different person, I really do.” Royal: “You know, Richie, this illness, this closeness to death… it’s had a profound affect on me.
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