At heart, "The Royal Tenenbaums" is a fairly simple family story. The family itself, however, is not so simple. Directed by Wes Anderson and co-written by Anderson and Owen Wilson, the film chronicles the creation, failures and eventual reunion of the Tenenbaums - an idiosyncratic but gifted family in New York City.
Anderson displays his gift as a director in his ability to maneuver such a talented ensemble cast, which includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Gene Hackman, Bill Murray, Danny Glover, Anjelica Houston and Luke and Owen Wilson, with such quirky grace.
At the onset of the movie, we are introduced to each member of the Tenenbaum family and the gifts they possess. Margot, played by Paltrow, is a childhood prodigy playwright who was adopted at the age of two. Richie, played by Luke Wilson, is a tennis champion who won the U.S. Nationals three years in a row. Chas, played by Stiller, is a financial wiz-kid who seemed to have a preternatural understanding of the world of investment. However, the monetary success and fame that the children earned early in life was eventually overshadowed by nearly 20 years of failure and disappointment, which is generally blamed on the sudden abandonment by their father, Royal, played by Hackman.
When Royal is forced to move out of the hotel he has been living in for 20 years on credit, he returns to his family - who he hasn't spoke to in two years - and tells them he's dying of cancer.
Like "Rushmore," Anderson's second film, "The Royal Tenenbaums" avoids screwball situations and dialogue and concentrates on the subtleties of each character's eccentricity. The humor is dry and restrained but nonetheless effective through a combination of excellent dialogue and first-rate character presentation. Hackman is especially brilliant in his role as a father who is brash and callous but complex enough to learn to be sympathetic for his children and those around him.
And that is what makes the movie so effective. The trademark quirkiness of the Tenenbaums is rooted in believable human emotion - leaving the audience in some awkward moments of not knowing whether to laugh or be touched by the sadness of each character's situation.
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The visual style of Anderson's direction is at times antiseptic - providing labels for the characters and situations as if they were specimens being observed - but is still able to delineate palpable human pathos and comedy. If the film has a weakness, it's that the story as a whole is not as well defined as the characters who work within it. Anderson makes each character vividly original through painstaking detail but it is almost at the price of the plot itself.
"The Royal Tenenbaums" as a whole, however, is a very funny, touching and original film. It fully establishes Anderson's reputation as a talented young director whose style is confident and sense of character is outstanding. Those looking for a film with wit and heart will not be disappointed.
