Rating: 
Summary: Great, moody little film
Review: Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, the director and co-writers (respectively) of "Bottle Rockets" and "Rushmore," reunite for a bittersweet comedy about a family of geniuses. Gene Hackman ("The French Connection") and Anjelica Huston ("Ever After") are Royal and Etheline Tenenbaum, the parents whose breakup sends their three children into turmoil. The kids grow up into a financial wizard (Ben Stiller, "Meet the Parents") a tennis pro (Luke Wilson, "My Dog Skip") and a playwright (Gwynneth Paltrow, "Shakespeare in Love"). All are successful, all are miserable.Until, that is, Royal decides he wants his family together again, and that the only way to do that is to pretend to be suffering from a terminal disease. Dark and moody, this film is nevertheless brilliantly written and executed with a great cast that also includes Danny Glover ("Lethal Weapon") and Bill Murray ("Ghostbusters"). The only downside for me was the inclusion of co-writer Owen Wilson ("Shanghai Noon") as the neighbor/would-be-Tenenbaum Eli Cash. I'm sorry, I just can't stand the guy as an actor. He always comes across as wooden and not funny and he looks like he's got a broken nose. But he's a pretty spiffy writer, so points for that. Still, the movie is dark, moody and a surprisingly funny story about mistakes and redemption, and it just came out in a spiffy Criterion Edition DVD. Those guys make the best discs.
Rating:
Summary: Move over Woody Allen
Review: I recently saw The Royal Tenenbaums for the second time with my all-growd-up daughter, and afterwards, we laughed for whole two days, remembering the great lines and wild scenes, (like Ben Stiller slapping Gene Hackman's hand), and what a great cast. Sorry, but if you don't "get it", then you don't get the joy of slapstick, nor the ironic wit of our silly little lives and who we all are. P.S. I sure hope the price drops soon.
Rating:
Summary: I finally got to see it
Review: I was delighted to discover that this film went straight to Criterion..known for their comprehensive DVD releases that always include fun goodies. I ran to rent this movie when I found out it had been released..having run into some problems with parking when I went to see it in the theater but nevermind. I think my favorite aspect of the two Wes Anderson films I've seen (this and Rushmore but alas have not yet seen Bottle Rocket) is the use of music. A great combination of imagery and music perfectly captures, to me at least, EXACTLY what the character is feeling. I haven't seen music used this effectively in years - ok maybe Moulin Rouge but I really wasn't watching it that closely. It seems to me that lately music editors (or whomever is in charge of choosing music for films) either goes right for the emotional jugular (ok let's play some sad music here so the audience will cry...ok let's play some fun poppy music here so people will enjoy the beauty makeover montage, etc) or randomly chooses something easy to sell for the soundtrack. I don't get that feeling with Anderson's films at all. It's more like we get to listen to the soundtrack playing in the character's head. And as far as I'm concerned the characters in this film have excellent taste in music. Maybe it's just one of those things..you love this movie or you hate it. I happen to love it. Happily watched it four times during my 5 day rental period and look forward to owning it soon. Also I really just wanted to help out llllloyd who wrote the "So you want to 'See me rant about the Royal Tenenbaum haters'" saying to go vote for it if you love it. So I did.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the worst
Review: This movie is the entertainment equivalent of watching paint dry.
Rating:
Summary: It's OK to admit it - it wasn't funny. Really. It's OK.
Review: You'd think, with this cast, the movie can't lose. Gotta be funny. Must be decent at least. Or interesting, thought provoking. Well, no, it is none of those things. The only thought it provoked for me was, "Why did ANYONE like this movie?". IT WASN'T FUNNY. Yes, I got all the attempted, dry and not so dry witted humor...IT WASN'T FUNNY. I got up to feed my pets while it was on...AND LEFT THE TAPE RUNNING. I wrote a note to B'Buster...please have mercy on me and refund my rental $. The RT's are a waste on so many levels. DON'T BUY IT. DON'T RENT IT. It's the first movie that was so bad, I actually took the time to post an amazon.com review...in the hopes of saving others. You've been warned!
Rating:
Summary: If this is high filmmaking maybe there's a big problem!
Review: It's funny, there are many like me who have watched and enjoyed offbeat and adventurous movies, but just despise this film. No, it isn't because we're brain dead people with no attention span, The Royal Tennenbaums is just a bad unentertaining movie from start to finish. I remember slumping in my seat after 45 minutes realizing this dreck was as good as it was going to get. I bought into the hype by film critics who should know better. This black comedy about a dysfunctional family misses in every way. Sure the casting is offbeat, but so what if Ben Stiller wears a 70's track suit, or Gwnyeth Paltrow smokes cigarettes on the sly and looks unattractive, is that it? Where does that go? I cared nothing for any of the characters, the Luke Wilson character was just morbid. Ha ha he's a fallen tennis pro, ha ha, Owen Wilson crashes his car, what was the point of it all? Gene Hackman tries his best, but despite his good reviews, he is wasted here. I saw nothing original here, nothing that inspired me, it's a sad commentary on today's movie that people who should know better love just anything that seems offbeat. Sorry to those who love this movie, the reaction where I watched it was a glum thumbs down all round, and we're not all neaderthals.
Rating:
Summary: Very stylish movie
Review: One interesting thing about this movie is the coherent sense of style that runs through it. The characters seem to live in an alternate universe - though it's set in New York, it's not a familiar New York. The movie itself is at times serious and funny. It has a lot of meaning for me, though I suppose not everyone would agree. The Criterion collection DVD package is great - nice packaging, and the DVD bonuses are a nice adder. The "Peter Bradley Show" extra is very funny in a weird way.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable but Overrated
Review: I was expecting this film to be the masterpiece of the year from all the review hype I'd read about it. Although this is a very good film, a very solid B, I did not find it the all star winner others did. The best part of the film is Gene Hackman as the patriarch of the Tennenbaum family. His entire family is eccentric and bizarre and that is what is explored in detail with Stiller, Wilson and Paltrow as his grown children and Huston as his estranged wife. Stiller cannot get over his wife's death in a crash and has become morbidly overprotective of his own children. Paltrow is just downright weird and the major part of her story is her unrequited (or is it?) love for her brother (Luke Wilson) who is not her brother by blood. His story is the flip of hers. Huston wants to finally divorce Hackman (Royal Tenenbaum) so she can marry Danny Glover who is a bit of a stuffed shirt. In the midst of all this, Hackman moves back into the house saying that he is dying as a ruse to worm his way back into his family. It is enjoyable. Worth owning? No but I believed all the hype and unfortunately now do own it.
Rating:
Summary: Puts The "Fun" In Dysfuntional
Review: THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS is a darker comedy, from RUSHMORE director, Wes Anderson. Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) and his wife Etheline (Angelica Huston) had three children and then decided to separate. Chas Tenenbaum, (Ben Stiller) is good with finance and money, Margot, (Gwyneth Paltrow) is a successful playwright, and Ritchie (Luke Wilson) is a tennis pro. All of these great accomplishments are erased from memory by their father's actions. After years of misdeeds, mistrust, and outright betrayal, the family is brought together when Royal announces that he has a terminal illness, and that he wants to reconcile the past. Once again, Anderson and Co-writer Owen Wilson give us a quirky look at the human condition, with this film. The difference between RUSHMORE and Tenenbaums, is that the latter is much darker in tone then the former. Both films share a feeling of surrealism, but this film, tends to veer off of the comedy, now and then. The cast is wonderful. Each member brings out the best and worst traits of the character that they play, with great timing and understated flair. Danny Glover and Bill Murray also have great supporting roles in the film. Hackman gives an Oscar worthy performance that was overlooked and is among the best of his in recent memory. The Criterion Collection 2 disc DVD set is another winner. Packed with extras, the set highlights include, a solid commentary by Anderson. The outtakes are just hilarious, and the videotaped interviews are well put together, featuring cast members and crew. While the Criterion DVD for Rushmore is a bit better in my opinion, the Royal DVD is a pefect companion to that film, for a great double feature of films by Wes Anderson. Recommended ****and half stars
Rating:
Summary: I'm sorry you don't understand
Review: I'm always floored when people don't like the films I love. I need to get over that, but I just can't. Please don't listen to these reviewers who simply don't get it. This film is superior. This film is horribly sad, innovative, funny, well-acted, beautiful, thoughtful, bizarre and full of love. Normally I wouldn't be so romantic to think I would talk about a movie's delivery of "love"- but Anderson and Wilson really wrote it so well.
Unlike most films, The Royal Tenenbaums hits on the complexities of love and understanding, but not it a trite, overdone way. They show us how weird we all are. They show us how complicated families are-they are horrible, loveable, ridiculous, intelligent, everything.
Anderson's overbearing control over this film is obvious and I'm not complaining. It is so important for an artist of any kind to grab ahold of their project and control everthing-it makes the work all the more commanding. Notice things like the symetry in the hospital room, the placement of Richie's drawings, the lego on the light cord in the closet. Let's see Ron Howard take himself that seriously while having a good time. No one makes movies like this guy. No one cares enough about the important stuff.
People say they don't know when to laugh or cry, that's the whole thing. Isn't that what life is like? Face reality and realize this film is one of the best ever made.
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