The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

"The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001) is a comedic drama about an emotionless, self-centered man named Royal Tenenbaum, played by Gene Hackman, as he tries to interject himself back into the lives of his abandoned family after finding out his wife Etheline, played by Anjelica Huston, is contemplating getting married to another man. Royal tells his wife, from which he is not divorced, that he has a terminal illness and only wishes to have his family back before his six weeks comes to an end. Etheline's fiancé, Henry Sherman played by Danny Glover, suspects there may be trickery afoot and a rollercoaster ensues. I am not usually of fan of redemption stories, but this is a great film. It reminded me that there is usually a Royal character in everyone's life. The director, Wes Anderson, does an outstanding job forcing the audience to care, from a distance, about this jerk of a man. The portrayal of the children in relations to Royal was magnificent. His two biological children Chas, played by Ben Stiller, and Ritchie, played by Luke Wilson, both capture an essence of Royal, but neither capture his characteristics as well as his adopted daughter Margot, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. As a viewer, you want and need to hate Royal, but Mr. Anderson, through his direction, keeps the audience from falling all the way over the fence. Overall, this is an astonishing film I only wish I would have seen earlier. This film sheds a different light on redemption storylines.

The Royal TenenbaumsThe symmetric world and the camera work has always been the maker's signature that lures in the audience through its stunning visuals and pleasingly light and breezy tone of the feature; contradict to its premise. As mentioned, it is rich on such technical aspects like costume design and cinematography but is short on sound department. Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson; the screenwriters, has done an excellent work on offering concrete material that is flat out hilarious and keeps the audience engaged where no one can defy that he or she isn't entertained. Wes Anderson; the director, as always, is excellent in his work on execution and the primary reason it always works is his awareness of the vision that he wishes to implement on screen. The performance is of course, amazingly done because of such a great cast especially Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Gene Hackman. The only minor conflict in here, is that the material hits on screen all together and offers very little time to breathe to the audience which can be off putting at times. The Royal Tenenbaums is a family drama enriching into a cathartic release where even though there isn't much to connect to the world depicted in here, it certainly is supremely entertaining.

I first saw "The Royal Tenenbaums" when it came out in the theater. It has some very funny parts, and I laughed at those. After a while though, I noticed that very few other people were laughing. I've seen the film twice since then, and while I know some of the funny scenes to watch for, with each viewing it has seemed less funny. Which leads me to conclude that the comedy of this movie is good the first time around, but it's not something that can continue to tickle one's funny bone. Or, it may be dated – funny in a culture around the turn of the 21st century, but not so much so a few years alter. After that first time, I wondered about the diverse reactions. Maybe some viewers didn't get the comedy. Some probably did, but it wasn't funny enough to make them laugh. But, there likely were others for whom some of the film got too close to home, too close for comfort. For them it wasn't funny at all. In my second and third viewings of the film, I became more aware of that. There surely are people who have had some of these experiences in their families. To them, it may not funny to watch something like they've experienced on film. Some people still may suffer or have bad memories. An adopted child whose father would embarrass her by always noting the she wasn't his "real" daughter. A self-centered, selfish father (or mother) who seldom paid attention to a son or daughter. An absent parent for much of one's life. Drug use in the family, other dysfunctional relationships. That gets to the point that the humor in this film is not the type that everyone can laugh about. It can be crass or hurtful to some. People who have grown up in highly dysfunctional families may smart at some things in this movie. The movie is about a terribly dysfunctional family. So, those who haven't seen this movie yet and may be considering it – be forewarned. For others though, there are some very funny scenes and a few instances of hilarious dialog. The cast all are quite good. Gene Hackman does a great job as the manipulative, selfish lout, Royal Tenenbaum. Anjelica Huston was exemplary as the almost dour separated Etheline Tenenbaum. The rest of the cast of mostly dysfunctional geniuses are all very good. People who are prone to despair or depression should not watch this movie. But adults with a keen sense for wit and far out humor should enjoy this movie – but probably only one time around.

So I think it is safe to say that I am not a Wes Anderson fan. I believe his bizarre take on his films can sometimes cause confusion and also give a nauseating effect on the viewer. I understand one can have an artistic approach to define yourself and separate your work from others, but I believe sometimes you have to know how your audience will react. Many film buffs love Andersons work. I don't understand why but then again whatever floats their boat. I will say one positive note about Anderson. I believe he has mastered the ability to reach into his inner creativeness and imagination to produce work that is different from anything else on a film reel. His uniqueness has reminded me of other great filmmakers like Darren Aronofsky, Quinten Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, or Sofia Coppola. These filmmakers create an environment or Mise en Scene that gives its unique element to the film. Although I don't like the film The Royal Tenenbaums, I will give the director credit where its due. He does a well job providing the viewer with an exquisite Mise en Scene that helps give his character's complexity, depth, and personality. My character that I decided to choose is Chas Tenenbaum (played by Ben Stiller). I know a lot of people will choose Chas but he is an easy and fun character to write about. Chas Tenenbaum can easily be described by just viewing his apartment or appearance. With out hearing him speak one can already know that he is a very complex character. From the moment the film starts introducing the Tenenbaum children, you can already see what kind of a prick Chas really is. As a child his room was basically like a tax office. He had a jail style bunk flanking the wall in between large filing cabinets. Although he was a child prodigy, his ego took the best of him. His fight or flight mode was never really turned off as an adult ever since his wife had passed away. The image of his home as an adult shows the type of wealth or class that Chas embodies. His tier 1 personality shows as he is always wearing a red Adidas jumpsuit similar to what you would find in a Run-D.M.C. video. He even has his children dressing just like him with the curly hair. I see his character can have some form of narcissism being that he hates his father and its all about Chas. Ben Stiller does a fantastic job bringing the depth to life in Chas. The "daddy problems" is a vital issue that really demonstrates the mental issues that Chas has and postulates the true for of his inner character. This guy seriously has issues. I believe the colors used in the introduction scene of Chas as a child were important because the bland non colorful pastels helps set up the character's personality with out giving much details. Basically with out spelling it out for the viewer. It is similar to a horror film. When the villain is about to ill someone, the dark and ominous music plays to help give the scene its dramatic effect. Like I have previously stated on Wes Anderson as a director. Anderson loves to use the same actors in his films, like Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray. He is not my favorite cup of tea, but his creativity is un-matched at this moment. And for that I applaud him. It is very difficult to be your own person when it comes to Hollywood. Nonetheless it is difficult to put your own image into something before it becomes "white washed" or "revised". Anderson has managed to craft his own followers and fans when it comes to his pictures. I honestly try to avoid his films. If I want to be confused I will watch Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream or The Fountain. But to each their own.