The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)

The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
Rating: 9.8

After recently seeing Anderson's newest film, and rewatching both this film and Rushmore a few weeks ago, I've decided The Royal Tenenbaum's and The Life Aquatic are tied for my favorite Anderson movies, followed closely behind Rushmore. Anderson's films seem to take place in some sort of alternate reality, similar to our world, yet distinctly separate. More so in this film than an any other, his stories are presented to us in the form of a theatrical presentation, with the elaborate and whimsically colored sets, perfectly centered compositions, and static camera setups, and of course the overabundance of music. The movie has so many wonderful scenes, from the opening montage revealing the back story of the family, to The Baumer's hilarious meltdown on the tennis court, to his beautifully orchestrated suicide attempt. There are also a lot of subtle moments like the homage to The French Connection when Royal is riding the go carts, or the closet filled with boardgames, the dalmatian mice, and the rundown Gypsy cabs. with the kids I feel Anderson progressed in terms of a more realistic and relatable story in The Darjeeling Limited, but I still prefer his previous efforts as I think they result in more comedy. The character are all very interesting in this ensemble piece, but none more developed than the title character. Gene Hackman is perfect as Royal Tenenbaum, an irresponsible father, who returns after years of abandoning his family in a desperate attempt to win their love back. The most tragic part about his character is that he truly does love his family, but he can't communicate it properly, and perhaps he's come to this realization too late. He tries to start fresh with Chas's (Ben Stiller) two sons since they don't hold any previous grudges. His character arc is one of the better developed one's I can recall. In one touching scene, Richie (Luke Wilson) asks for Royal's advice about Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow). Royal says he can't help him and that he wishes he had more to offer. Richie confirms the sincerity of his father with "I know you do pop." Royal becomes more and more aware of the hurt he's caused his family and begins to right the wrongs. He visits Chas's wife's grave, finally signs the divorce papers for his wife (Anjelica Huston), and gives her new courter (Danny Glover) his blessing. In the end he saves Chas's children and buys them a new dog after Eli (Owen Wilson) runs over their other dog Buckley, resulting in Chas being able to forgive his father to some extent. Royal's epitaph is a fitting end to the story, serving as both a comic piece, yet it also says so much about his character as he wanted to be and do so much more for his family, but couldn't.