Rating: 
Summary: A Very Acquired Taste...For Blandness !
Review: First, the positive. As always, great calibre performances by Hackman, Houston, Murray, and Glover...they played their character roles with that underlying dark humor needed for this film. Houston and Hackman shined brilliantly and made the best with what they were given storywise;They were believable as a separated older married couple with family.Unfortunately, this is where the buck stops ! As for Paltrow, and the Wilson brothers' eccentrically [bad] characters and performances, who cares ! Very dark moping, self-centered, one-dimensional characters. Absolutely nothing likeable or dislikeable about them (no pulse to their performances)...Indeed, as one reviewer put it, this film is definitely an acquired taste (if you like your food with no seasoning or flavor whatsoever...more power to you)! The best scenes are the ones seen in the theatrical previews and trailers and nothing more.The story is not very profound either (father tries to make good for walking out on his family years ago)...Save yourselves from wasting your valuable time and money on this forgettable disaster ! You have to really be a fan of Gene Hackman and Angelica Houston to see past the rest of this royal mess like I did !...
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't Quite Work Either as Comedy or Drama
Review: Despite its generally favorable reviews, neither my wife nor I really liked this movie. It isn't funny enough to work as a comedy, and you don't care enough about any of the characters for it to work effectively as a drama. The central character, Royal Tenenbaum, is mean and manipulative, and his three grown children are all neurotic messes. Hackman and Huston give decent performances, but the script is disjointed and the "chapter introductions" are annoying. Not the worst movie ever, but somewhere in the bottom half.
Rating:
Summary: A little unusual to say the least....
Review: Gene Hackman stars in this film as Royal Tennebaum, the mostly absent patriarch of the highly disfunctional Tennebaum clan. Ben Stiller, Danny Glover, Angelica Houston and Gwenneth Paltrow also star. From what I'd read from various reviewers, I really expected that this would be a comedy, and it was funny, in parts. Perhaps I just didn't see the humor in everything that was done, although I suppose that there is some humor to be derived from watching a disfunctional family function. However, I think that their disfunction was a bit overwhelming - there was almost nothing that this family did normally and perhaps that is what undercut the humor in this film. Could have been better, but not bad overall if you have nothing else to do.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS MOVE [DISAPPOINTS]
Review: THIS MOVIE WAS HORRIBLE ! DEFINATLY NOT FUNNY OR ENETERTAINING IN ANY WAY ! DONT RENT OR BUY THIS. BEN STILLER IS USUALLY HILARIOUS BUT NOT IN THIS CASE.
Rating: 
Summary: Seen in three times in the past two months
Review: My one admonition to those who might be baffled by 'The Royal Tenenbaums' is to see it once more. It's such a subtle film in its dialog and imagery and story that it becomes easy to forget that at heart TRT is a film about a family that has fallen apart over 20 some odd years. The characters may appear to be oddballs, but once you view this a few times you will begin to see the heartbreaking effect of Royal's return to the fold. It unlocks decades of resentment (for Chas), disappointment (for Richie), and unfulfillment (for Margot.) Outstanding performances all around, with Gene Hackman, arguably the greatest living actor, leading a stellar cast.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the best film in years
Review: The Royal tenenbaums is a project. It is an expensive film with an all-star cast that made back it's money, but didn't flourish. Probably the only reason I saw it was I loved Wes Anderson films. This is possibly his greatest. The storyenvolves Royal an uptight, ornery man whose children are amazing (Ben Stiller playes Chas Tenenbaum, a stock market expert who started buying real estate in his teens, Margot Tenenbaum (Gwynneth Paltrow) is an acclaimed playright who won a Pulitzer Pized at the age of 9 (She is adopted, though). Richie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson) was a tennis player in the top ten rankings in America at one point. There dad is very mean though (played brilliantly by Gene Hackman). When the kids grow up, they all start to be very starnge and different. Chas, who's wife has died is a safety freak. Margots plays are actually worse than when she was nine. She is married to a character played by Bill Murray. Richie broke down in a tennis game and turns to be suicidal. This is actually a funny film, yet a dark comedy. Owen Wilson, who plays a very weird Eli Cash, is director Wes Andersons co-writer. The film has some perfect scenes-and here they are:
1. "Cast of Characters"
2. "Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard"
3. "Needle in the Hay" The dvd is criterion, so you know that it's very good. It has a director approved transfer, 5.1, commentary just by Wes Anderson (its only okay; many people think Richies breakdown tennis scenes commentators are his brother, a different Wilson (not Owen), and Jason Scwartzman, from Wes's previous film, Rushmore, which, by the way, has an excellent criterion collection. All of the special features are good, but I was alittle bit dissapointed buy the deleted scenes. I have watched this about a dozed times. After the second viewing, it holds up to multiple viewings, but nothing when you watch it the first time. Many people hate this film. Haven't they every heard, "Don't critisize what you can't understand?"
Rating:
Summary: The Royal Pain
Review: I really didn't like this movie. I thought it was going to be funny because of Ben Stiller and it wasn't. A terrible disappointment. I cannot stress this enough, do NOT see this movie if you want to watch a Ben Stiller comedy where you will come away laughing. This alone does not make me despise The Royal Tenenbaums. Perhaps if the characters managed to spark any interest with me, I would have not felt so cheated. But, there is no other way to put it, I found them boring. If a character fails to capture your attention immediately, or sometime throughout the course of the film, chances are pretty slim that you'll care to sit through a second viewing. If you're not hooked the first time, they've lost you. And don't feed me that old line, "Oh, you've got to see it a second time to fully appreciate it." If I didn't care the first time, it's going to take more persuasion than that, and a whole lot of will power to get me to try it again. After all, this is two hours of my precious time we're talking about. Maybe my experiences and frame of mind will change in a few months, or a few years, but right now, this film doesn't speak to me, and it probably won't speak to a lot of you. That doesn't mean we're ignorant. That just means that the writers failed in capturing the interest of the general audience. They've succeeded in creating a "piece of art", which seems to be code word for "a great many people will hate this film." The rest of society doesn't necessarily want bombs exploding and flatulence jokes. I don't know exactly what I want to watch, but it's not this. If you like the actors in this movie, despite whether they are humorous or serious, that is still not a good enough reason to sit through this. Absolutely do not buy it before you've watched it because there is no way to guarantee beforehand whether or not you'll like it, never mind that you'll want to watch it again and again and again. And that is the greatest mystery surrounding this film. Will you like it? Or will you want to hammer it into little bitty pieces? That is the only complexity that I believe the movie deserves to call its own. Any deep meaning you pull out of it probably has more to do with you than anything that was put into this.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, all too rare, movie
Review: This movie is a good message in a beautiful package of sight and sound. I agree with other (positive) reviewers -- don't look to this movie if you want to turn off your mind and watch various things explode -- all with the standard rock/pop soundtrack playing in the background. This movie celebrates fractured human beings in an honest, humble, funny manner. It is truly art. How beautiful it is to experience (while not getting overly artsy -- i.e. condescending, college sophomore self importance conversation material, etc...). Watch the documentary on the DVD and it becomes obvious that this was a project of dedication to which the director only answered to his self-driven conviction to tell a story right. Simply: one of the best movies I have ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: The Royal Tenebaums
Review: Simply the best movie I've seen in a long time;
absolutely merits the 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic Review
Review: I loved this movie. That is simple. The acting was superb. The narration, surprisingly well done. The story was sublimely disfunctional. I loved Royal's feeble attempts to "do the right thing". The camera work was excellent. The characters were so well done by EVERY actor in the case. I feel strongly. This is one of the best that I have have ever seen in my 29 years. In the genre of Harold and Maude (and, I'm surprised to say, Harold and Maude now sits in second place)... the entire package that is this movie impressed me. I DON'T recommend this movie for those individuals that are faint-of-heart. I don't recommend it for those who have issues with the concept of suicide or adultery. I DON'T recommend it for those who really thought that the latest Austin Powers movie was the best comedy. I DON'T recommend for those people who thought that Signs was really deep. I'm not slamming those people... I simply don't think that this movie would appeal to them. (Yes, I saw both... I know and like people who saw and enjoyed both... and the bulk of those people did not like Royal Tennenbaums despite my recommendation). I DO recommend it for those individuals that appreciate a movie that is produced and delivered in a way that is something akin to a great symphony -- great coordination, harmony, dissonance and execution. I was absolutely surprised by the quality of the acting, production and sound (especially since the movie received such mixed reviews). On a lighter note... it's definitely a movie for people who own cats and not dogs...:-)
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