Rating: 
Summary: This one is in my collection
Review: I rented this movie based on the cast, not knowing anything of the story. What a great discovery! You know when you are cruising down the aisle at the video store and you pick up that film you've never heard of and it turns out to be one of your faves? That's what this was like. As Wes Anderson puts it on the commentary track, many "rules" of film making are broken. Odd camera angles, starting the story after about 10 long minutes of intro, narration, etc... This is a far cry from your average big screen, big budget production. So it is not for everybody, so what? If it is for you, you will fall in love with it - the story, the cast, the score, the locations, all come together to create a unique, refreshing taste. I can relate to these characters, not to the individual quirks, but to the transformation from childhood promise to adult problems. We all have individual quirks of behavior and thought, and in the movie these are not shied away from, there is no effort made to judge the characters in order to create "heroes" or "villians" in the classic sense. Just a story of a family, that's all.
Rating:
Summary: On my top 10 list
Review: This was a wonderful movie. I don't know what about it appeals to me and not others -- I guess I can't imagine this movie not appealing to everyone. How can you not love these characters? They are developed, human, good and bad. This movie had a clear plot, fabulous humor, tragedy, everything. Beautifully written and beautifully played, this movie deserves all the kudos I can give.
Rating: 
Summary: Put me to sleep... correction, put me into a coma.
Review: Went out to get a movie one Friday night and they didn't have my 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choices... so I went into "walk the rows of new releases and look for something interesting" mode. I rented this movie based on Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltro, and Ben Stiller. Even got excited when I realized that they guy that played in the Jackie Chan western was in it. Then saw that Bill Murray and Angelic Huston were also involved and thought this should be great. Wrong. Save your money. I just don't get it.
Rating:
Summary: If you must see it "RENT DON'T BUY'
Review: If they had a Zero rating I would have chosen that. This movie is up with the Killer Tomato's list , wait! Killer Tomato's was much better. I fell asleep after ten minutes waiting for the funny "stuff" to begin, my husband stopped the movie and took it back and we don't always agree on things,this we did, Movie STINKS
Rating: 
Summary: Not a film you'll like unless you loved "Rushmore"
Review: "The Royal Tennenbaums" is not a comedy that will appeal to everybody. The titular family, ruled by Gene Hackman (Royal Tennenbaum) and Anjelica Huston, was split between the conflicting forces of their prodigal children, but mostly due to Royal's relentless opportunism. Chas (Stiller) was a brilliant businessman by the age of nine - looking and living the part (his bedroom looks more like an office than somebody's bedroom, complete with linoleum). Richie (Luke Wilson, though unrecognizable behind beard and glasses for much of the film) was a tennis champ who turned pro by 17. Margot (Paltrow), Royal's adopted daughter, was an award-winning playwright by 11. By the start of the flick, they're all grown-up and damaged in some way or another - Richie's secret love for Margot has destroyed his tennis career, while Margot is all but clinically depressed and creatively blocked. The death of Chas's wife in a private airplane crash has turned him compulsively safe. Royal, disbarred and briefly imprisoned (we learn that Chas had Royal disbarred, and his half of the house expropriated) is out of cash, and is forced to return to the little house on Orchard Street. Royal manages to worm his way back claiming he's dying of stomach cancer, and the family only reluctantly takes him back. Though Chas loudly opposes the family's having anything to do with Royal, only Danny Glover, as a romantic contender for Mrs. Tennenbaum, is able to see through Royal's schemes. If you've seen "Rushmore", then you'll find Wes Anderson's direction here strikingly. (meandering plot lines, understated characters and a script that is light handed to the point of being non-existent) Of course the cinematography is the clearest link between the two - with many scenes being less scenes than simply snapshots in which there is movement. (I think Anderson's point is that his characters are people whose achievements have eclipsed their identities, so much that they're lives easily boil down to the quick bios found behind their books, but that's just my blathering take on it all). Not a lot really makes sense in this film - Royal first returns home because he's out on the street, but he tries to worm his way into their lives as well, only increasing the chances that they'll be fed up enough to see through his lies. Richie is destroyed by Margot's marriage to a professional melancholic played by Bill Murray, but we soon learn that she was famously unfaithful, almost following a compulsive infidelity already - so why did she marry? Chas hates Royal for many reasons, though we're not sure which has cemented their bad blood (a BB, permanently lodged in Chas's hand when he was shot by Royal, doesn't quite explain things; Chas is more affected by his wife's death, though that's got nothing to do with Royal). Eli Cash (Owen Wilson), who grew up across the street from the Tennenbaums, is a bigger mystery - it seems that he harbored a love of Margot himself, but that was a mystery to her even by the time he's foresworn her. Though inwardly envious of the Tennenbaum's for the sake of being simply a Tennenbaum which is weird enough, Cash has no connection in the film to Royal, who has made the family everything it is. Hopelessly hooked on Mescaline (climaxing in a tragic act of recklessness at the movie's end), Eli's place in the film, so unconnected with its other characters, is hard to explain. He gives the film some much needed energy, but little else. The biggest mistake is how the script tries to create a multitude of characters patterned after Max from "Rushmore" (Max loves attending the elite prep school, Rushmore, even though he's a hopeless academic failure; He lives just to be near his cozy school, much as the characters here long to return to the family home, but little more than that. "Rushmore" worked because Max's quirks seemed so out of place and wonderfully highlighted against the rest of the world in that film. Here, everybody is as nutty and directionless as Max. For that reason, I can't really recommend this flick unless you've already seen and loved "Rushmore". Otherwise, you'll be staring numb at your tube for 110 minutes wondering why you're not laughing.
Rating: 
Summary: A Song Played On One String
Review: Kind of Mystery Men meets Annie Hall. They started out with a good concept but unfortunately, unlike Woody Allen movies, this one fails to make family, humanity, uniqueness, and neurosis funny. More unfortunately and unlike the juvenile and tolerable Mystery Men, having each character play on one stereotypical string over and over quickly becomes boring. For example, Gwyneth does an adorable angst thing but that's all she gets to do. Skip it unless you have trouble sleeping. I suppose your mileage may vary.
Rating:
Summary: ...Doesnt Even Deserve That 1 Star
Review: This was by far the worst movie I have ever saw in my lifetime, maybe I dont get it but I wasnt the only one who thought it [was bad]. I couldnt wait for the movie to end. I cant believe how they got all those good actors and just made that movie terrible. there was a stupid plot and the movie was complete nonsense. WASTE OF FILM
Rating:
Summary: Wierdly eccentric overrated showplace for clever writers
Review: This film takes place in a fantasy New York and traces the lives of three child prodigies who grew up neurotic. Gene Hackman is the divorced father, Anjelica Huston is the mother, and Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow and Luke Wilson play the grown children. All give good performances. But the screenplay is so weirdly eccentric that I couldn't relate to it at all. It's supposed to be a comedy drama, but I neither laughed out loud nor felt any emotion during the times of pathos. Much of the script is delivered deadpan and that's supposed to be funny. Mostly, there's a feeling of vague discomfort throughout as the writers show off their cleverness. The critics love it and I wouldn't be surprised if the film won some awards. But, frankly, I can't understand how the script even got to the screen and get a budget big enough to attract big stars. I sat there bored and uncomfortable and couldn't wait for it to end. I'm always interested in what appeals to the public and so it wasn't exactly a waste of time for me. Clearly, though it is one of the most overrated films I have ever seen in spite of the media hype to the contrary. This film scrapes the bottom of the barrel as far as my rating is concerned.
Rating:
Summary: A triumph for modern filmmaking
Review: I think that The Royal Tenenbaums is probably the most original, intelligent, and clever this year. The film starts by developing its characters and setting the scene. This is important because the scene that it sets is not exactly real. In every scenario, something is not quite right. The New York you see is not the real New York, and the characters are odd, quirky, and have very interesting makeups. The humor in this movie is not like something you would find in Zoolander or Billy Madison, it is a more intelligent brand of comedy .The movie twists and turns through highs and lows of each character. But during a "low" point, there is a one-liner, or clever device that makes it funny. ..The other reviews for this movie are dishearting to me because they do this film no justice(especially that one by Tyler, are you in the first grade?). Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson have developed another trimuph for modern filmmaking and an all-around hilarious movie.
Rating:
Summary: A little disappointing..
Review: Wes Anderson has an eccentric and quirky talent for film, and I definitely think it's an acquired taste. As some people have previously mentioned, you could either love it or hate it. When he is at his best, we see films like Rushmore, where the humor and wit is dry, and a bit slow, but you appreciate it nonetheless. Bottle Rocket was also quite a good film. However, I was disappointed after purchasing the Royal Tenenbaums on DVD, because I have really enjoyed his other two films. The beauty of these Wes Anderson DVD's starts with the charm of the handmade drawings, as in the Royal Tenenbaum's map of the house. Even the packaging, is designed to look like a book. Very artsy. But after viewing the whole movie, I can honestly say that I thought the best parts of the film were the trailers shown on TV. The description of the movie is thoroughly entertaining, but for me, the whole movie was just a bit too slow. There were humorous moments, such as the twin grandsons playing with Royal, but then there was also a bleakness which I didn't enjoy. This film is definitely one a mainstream audience would not appreciate. If you're looking for a mindless rolling on the floor comedy, don't get this movie. But for the more subtly entertained, this may be the film for you.
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