Rating: 
Summary: Intelligent and Funny
Review: In a era when the words "comedy" and "stupid" are almost synonymous, Wes Anderson insists on making smart, tightly controlled films that don't rely on the emission of bodily fluids for laughs. If The Royal Tenenbaums is seldom the kind of thigh-slapping laugh-fest some might expect, it delivers more smile-quietly-to-yourself moments than anything since... well, Rushmore. Witty production design, a fantastic musical score and a outstanding acting ensemble help to bring this story of the dysfunctional Tenenbaum family to life. Highly recommended for the movie alone, but the (as usual)excellent Criterion package, crammed with extras, makes this a must own for those who treasure humor of the literate kind.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful...
Review: I didn't like this movie in the first 45-60 minutes. Since I loved "Rushmore," I went to "The Royal Tenenbaums" expecting to like it and was disappointed at first. What I realized in the second half of this movie may be true for all Wes Anderson movies-the more you watch, the more you like it. Some reviewers have complained that this was not the comedy they expected. In a sense of "Austin Powers" laugh-a-minute comedy, they're right. (I love Austin Powers, just in a different way!)
What makes this movie funny is what makes people in real life funny: their quirks. It's like when you've known a friend for a few years and can laugh at the weird little things that they do or say because it's just *so them.* I also love that there are truly no good guys or bad guys in this film, which is very true to life. Everyone has their foibles, and everyone has redeeming moments.
After watching this movie about 5 times, it just keeps getting better with each viewing. Anderson & Wilson perfectly capture the characters' feelings of falling short of high expectations and how these expectations of them are crippling. The Royal Tenenbaums is a beautiful, quirkily-funny movie. I can't wait for Anderson's next film.
Rating:
Summary: A comedy fit for a royal.
Review: "The Royal Tenenbaums", directed by Wes Anderson, is a hilarious comedy about a dysfunctional family. Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman), has three kids who are all geniuses, and a wife. He leaves the family for several years, and finally decides to come back home to get his family back together. But now his kids are all grown up. Chas Tenenbaum (Ben Stiller) never got over the fact that his father was never there for him and even fired him from the job they both owned. Richie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson) was a professional champion tennis player at a very young age until he quit unexpectedly. And Margot Tenenbaum (Gwyneth Paltrow) wrote her own plays and later when she grew up, seduced a bunch of men and married a much older man, named Raleigh St. Clair (Bill Murray). The mother, Dr. Ethel Tenenbaum (Angelica Houston) is now an archaeologist and has fallen in love with another man, Henry Sherman (Danny Glover). Royal comes back to his family claiming to have cancer and six weeks left to leave. They all feel guilty, so they let him stay. But when the family finds out that Royal was faking his illness, he has to prove to his family that he is worth their time and tries to win them back.With an all-star cast and a superb script written by Anderson and Owen Wilson (who also costars in the film as Richie's best friend, Eli Cash), "The Royal Tenenbaums" is not to be missed. It's hilarious and witty. The criterion collection DVD is also a must, with special bonus features including interviews with the cast and filmmakers, outtakes, and more. The DVD comes in wide screen format. The film is also narrated by Alec Baldwin. One of the best films of last year. I highly recommend "The Royal Tenenbaums". Score:
100/100
A+
Rating:
Summary: A great "Feel Good" movie
Review: I know a lot of others have written reviews of this movie, but I enjoy it so much I had to write one of my own. I've seen it five times now, and I'm very eager to see it again. The presentation is novel, and outstanding. I really like how it's formed into "chapters" in a novel. The main point I like, however, is this: Here we see a family that fell apart (much like a lot of families I know). Many years later, the person responsible for the animosity (the father Royal) tries to bring it back together. He's brash, and insensitive, but he still pulls it off. That's what I like most about the movie. One of his final lines says it all. His wife wants to remarry, and he says: "I finally understand what you see in him. He's everything I'm not." He's come to the realization that he's not the best thing since sliced bread, and he's OKAY with it! You'd be hard pressed to find someone with this understanding in real life. He admits what type of person he is, and apologizes in advance. Truly one of Hackman's best performances ever.
Rating: 
Summary: Take Aim at the Rich Kids
Review: I loved "Rushmore," but Wes Anderson squanders some of its best tricks here to tell pretty much the same story from the rich kids' side. The characters seem more like excuses for the soundtrack and the moody Charles Addams-meets-Tim Burton New York he's constructed than people he really cares about. Nearly every scene can be matched to one in "Rushmore," with the latter showing more heart each time. I hope the mainstream attention hasn't hardened Anderson's quirks into cliches--he's a unique talent and I look forward to seeing what his next film brings.
Rating: 
Summary: The Goodness
Review: I find it incredible that there are people who do not absolutely love this film, but it makes sense. Often, it is the most extraordinary things that are marked with extreme feeling, which explains why most people tend to love or hate The Royal Tenenbaums.
What reeled me in was the extreme subtlety of the film. In the past two days I've watched it twice, after first seeing it in the theater when first releasesd, and still I discover new things in which to appreciate. I really wish I could explain why I love this movie so much, but it's the intangible qualities, not necessarily the direction or story that does it for me. Though the script is well-written and thorough, I suppose it's the subtle nuances of the performances and the interaction between the characters that I most enjoy. If you watch closely, you find that the actors really try hard to completely inhabit their roles and give precisely the performance that draws you into the world of the Tenenbaums or maybe they just fooled me.
Either way, this was the last (I believe) movie that I voluntarily went to the theater to see and wasn't the least bit disppointed with.
Rating:
Summary: Strangely Funny But Not Exactly Everybody's Cup of Tea
Review: After all, the title tells everything: it's about the Tenenbaums, one strange dysfunctional family with the perhaps best collection of oddball characters in recent years. But unlike director Wes Anderson's previous work "Rushmore," the new film lacks one thing: story. So, be warned: this is not our usual laugh-out-loud comedy, but it certainly tickles your funny bones ... if you're in the mood. If you're not ... , then you won't laugh in the next ten years. And if you have seen some good American movies made since the 70s, or just happen to know the name of Gene Hackman, you soon realize that he is the best thing of the show, and actually he is. Hackman charmingly plays the sire of the family, the most irreponsible father Royal Tenenbaum, who returns to his home after 22 years, now deprived of his license of a lawyer, and severely short of money, kicked out of the hotel he had been living in. Now, the time has come for the reunion of the former members of the family, ex-genious children: Paltrow, Stiller, and Luke Wilson. Surrounding the dying father (so he insists), they somehow start to heal the old wounds (including that of BB guns) received during the childhood ... It is Hackman that you always are attracted to, inspite of his personality, and it is only natural, considering his talent. But other actors are also good, particularly Paltrow with black eyelids, whose shady past full of secrets (and married to Bill Murrey!) is recounted in a short flashback with a Ramones song "Judy is a Punk." This is the moment Wes Anderson is at his best, showing witty, playful skills of his own. But there are some flaws in the film, and one of them is that clearly the film is overcrowded with too many chracaters, and because of that, the story gets behind these portraits, getting thinner than that of "Rushmore," which revolves around the hilarious, entangled relations between Jason Schuwartzman - Olivia Williams - Bill Murrey. In the new film Bill Murrey's role doesn't mean much, and those of Owen and Luke Wilson just don't function well, compared with that of Hackman and Angelica Huston. Some intrguing themes (like the near-incest relation between sister and brother) are taken up, and then left unsolved, and when we see these flaws, we remember the tight, original structure of "Rushmore." After all, this is a unique version of unique family by one od the most unique directors in America. There are lots of reference to the films in the past, as the signature of the post-Tarantino generations, but Anderson's film is consciously avoiding making it come to the forefront. Instead, he presents his original view of the family with his meticulously designed photography. This film may not suit everyone's taste as a comedy, but as a drama it still has universal appeal as long as how Royal Tenenbaum and his family act under this not-so-usual situations.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: The first time I saw the Royal Tenenbaums, I saw it with Frank, an affable guy from New Jersey who commuted 50 minutes every day from Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve Day to hawk Douglas Firs, Canadian balsams, and Warner Brothers Christmas stockings on the east side of 3rd Ave. between 38h and 39th. I'd last seen Frank Christmas Eve night, about two weeks prior to seeing the movie. We''d torn apart the two by four lean-tos that had held the stock of trees, thrown the unsold wreaths over the fence that separated the handball court from out block-long stand, and headed to SoHo where we joined all the other employees of Manhattan's second-largest Christmas Tree chain in drinking fifty dollars each. I thought the Royal Tenenbaums was very good, but Frank thought it was simply 'okay.' I saw the Royal Tenenbaums in the theatres on a total of five time, paying full price once, using vouchers my parents had given me for Christmas on three occasions, and sneaking in once after paying to see 'How High' at the AMC 25. The Royal Tenenbaums is better than How High, though that movie is not without its appeal. The acting in Tenenbaums is superb, the art direction wonderful, and the story interest. The DVD transfer is excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Deeper than you thought
Review: I think that the only problem with this movie is that it created false expectations - clearly marketed as a comedy (what the hell were the promoters thinking???) , it atracted folks who would not go to see it for its real value. And i am as much a Python or Fawlty Towers person as one can only imagine. This is not a comedy, - rather a farse where moments of sadness or detachment outnumber the funny ones. Very sarcastic and clever directing and very human and in a strange way kind at the same time.
Rating: 
Summary: Aimless & Confused
Review: For the first 45 minutes you'll think this is an off-beat, quirky, clever, out-of-the-mainstream movie. And for the first 45 minutes maybe it is. But then it falls to pieces. It doesn't know what it's about or what to do. When Mr. Tanenbaum is stabbed (for the 2nd time) by his faithful Indian companion, you realize the movie just doesn't know where it's at and so has decided to go for cheap laughs. It's set up to be a story about genius children who all crash (that is, lose their knack) in late early adulthood owing to the fact that their upbringing with a miserable father is catching up to them psychologically. They go home and dear old dad, because he's dying, moves back home (with his estranged wife) too. Thus the stage is set for confrontation, comedy, and one would think, at least a certain degree of reconciliation. But instead of following through on the setup the movie veers wildly. Dad's not really sick. And then we get this bizarre subplot where sis' (who's adopted) is in love with her adoptive brother. Much time is devoted to this. The movie satisfies itself with superficial cuteness and oddballness, rather than going deep with its ideas and coming up with a fully fleshed, whole film. It is a movie made from a confused, rough draft of a screenplay. It's testament to the fact that you should finish what you start rather than selling it when it's only half done. A disappointment
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