Rating: 
Summary: You'll either love it or you'll hate it!
Review: The Royal Tenenbaums is one of those films. I was unfamiliar with any of the previous Wes Anmderson films when I first went to see Tenenbaums (something I have now remedied) so it isn't a film just for fans of his work. My main reason for seeing Tenenbaums was the great cast - and this is still one of the best reasons to watch it in my opinion. There's some fine acting going on in here. I also appreciated the attention to detail in the sets and the score as well - they were integral to the understaning of the film. The tone is slightly dark, the comedy is very subtle (if you are expecting Farrelly Bros. style laughs here you are going to be disappointed). The film feels like a 70's classic, from the music, clothes and the way it is shot. I recommend that you watch this film, if you hate it it wasn't meant to be!
Rating:
Summary: A Royal Treat
Review: Touching, poinant, memorable. It was a joy to see this quirky and original masterpiece. When I found out they were the same people who had done Rushmore I ran out and rented it. Another gem. Had it not been for Lord of the Rings this would have been my favorite film of the year.
Rating:
Summary: great great great film
Review: It's a children's story for adults, and if you came from an unhappy family, it's the best film of the last decade, hands down. If you came from a happy family, count your blessings that you were bored with this movie. Gene Hackman has lapped the field as the best actor of his generation. De Niro's become a joke; Hackman keeps getting better. In a career of brilliant performances, this is his best. Great freaking actor, fabulous film.
Rating:
Summary: The most satisfying film about an American family to date
Review: I couldn't quite summarize in one sentence (above) how I felt about this film, but let me just emphasize that it demands multiple viewings. Wes Anderson is a genius, compiling great performances, moments of quirky, ironic humor, and genuine emotion into 100 minutes. A DVD of 'Tenenbaums' should be a genuine treasure if it's anything like the Criterion release of 'Rushmore.' (although not enough details about this DVD have been released yet - but there's got to be reason it includes 2 discs). This film had me laughing one minute and crying the next. Anderson crams so much detail into each shot, yet it never seems contrived or pretentious. I can't stress how much I enjoyed this film. P.S. If anyone knows of any more technical info about this edition, I'd appreciate an e-mailed update.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible.
Review: ...When I was in the theatre, barely anybody laughed. There was the occasional chuckle here and there, but really. This movie felt like it would never end. Are you sure this was suppose to be a comedy????? I found myself bored out of my mind while sitting through this... The only people who I can think would find this at all funny, is some snotty rich folk. It's terrible. Do yourself a favor, don't torture (yes, I mean torture)yourself by sitting through this never ending, exceptionally boring film. My family is still scratching their heads as to why this film got such good reviws. Are reviewers oobligated to give a film good reaviews due to the cast??????? In any case, I will never put myself through such a dragged out boring film again...
Rating:
Summary: Wes Anderson will always be hit or miss...
Review: ... but not in the sense that is usually used. Some people absolutly love his movies, while others really don't care much at all. It's not to say that either side is right or wrong, its just a conflict of interests. Those who don't like Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, or this film, are not in any way inferior/superior to a person like myself, but, those who are smug and almost happy to tell you how bad this movie is... shame on you. Well, this is easily my favourite film of last year, along with Memento and Waking Life, because of it's rich use of atmosphere. This is a film about lost time, lost childhood, lost chances... really it's about losing those things which are important, and getting them back, and that is the reason that alot of the imagery is, umm.... retro. This is a running theme in all of Anderson's movies, the idea of reclaiming your past by bringing it along with you into the future. All the objects in the movie hold sentimental value to the characters (we never really learn what the particular sentiments are, which is part of the allure of the "sight gag") and gives the characters a past and, more importantly, a neural net of their opinions, beliefs, emotions etc, just by displaying their possessions. The performances are usually critisized as being highly exagerated- well i hate to break it to you but that's really the whole point of the movie. The Tenenbaum family are eccentrics, the type of family you would latch onto like a satilite because you are attracted to their behavour, and Owen Anderson's character is a representation of the audience in that respect. If this family was what you would call "average", they wouldn't be interesting. Of course alot of movies have the set up of a normal guy in an extraordinary situation, but not every movie has to be that way. Some of the reviewers who have given this movie a low score have cited that it "fails as black comedy". Well that's interesting since Anderson himself dosn't consider his movies comedies anyways. Sure there are funny moments, but they are by no means as exagerated as the film's characters are. The comedy is understated: there are no cheap tricks to make you laugh. One of my favourite moments in the movie is when Royal and the indian "butler" are in the game closet talking, and then it's revealed they are drinking martinis- dosn't sound funny in words, but for me it's very touching and highly comical. This isn't slapstick, but humour of a more gentle kind, like in Monsiur Hulots Holliday. The acting is superb by Hackman and Houston, and immediatly convinces the audience of their characters histories. I feel this was Hackman's finest performance since The Conversation, in a career which, i feel as well, has been utterly underappreciated. Luke Wilson, Gwenneth Paltro are both fine in their own rights, and Ben Stiller -who practicly everyone hates in this movie- plays his character wonderfully: A boy who breeded mice with spots and ran a lucrative company at the age of 12, a father who is frightend of losing his children to accidents and hates his own father for reasons he can't articulate- Stiller personifies this beautifully. All the negative reviewers seem to have forgotten that for all their critisism, they "bought" them all as a family, as unrealisticly exagerated as they are, even though in real life they are all polar opposites. Bad acting?? These people have no idea of the subtleties involved in the performances. I also think that Bill Murray's performance as the psychologist is brilliant. Danny Glover plays his part with just the right amount of understatement, and equally fitting with the other actors. Alec Baldwin's dry narative is extra extra dry. This movie just cries for a repeated viewing after repeated viewing, and has similarities to Joyce's Ulysses in the sense that there are treasures hidden within- seek and ye shall find.
If only you appreciate the beauty of the colours, this movie is worth the money to watch it, and i applaud Hollywood for forgetting its loyalties to the sausage industry for just a few brief moments. Damn the academy, this is the best picture of the year.
Rating:
Summary: an instant masterpiece
Review: the royal tenebaums definetly struck a chord in me. no matter who you are you will relate to atleast one of the characters in the movie. this is one of the best ensamble casts since Magnolia. the story is so well written, the acting is spectacular and every detail is so carefully placed it makes the movie a beautiful experience. i recomend this film for everyone. the music is also a great touch!
Rating:
Summary: A big, dark toy-box of a movie
Review: I'm a Wes Anderson fan and "The Royal Tenenbaums" was my favorite movie of the year. (just for a reference, the others were "Hedwig & the Angry Inch," "Ali," "The Man Who Wasn't There," and "Training Day," and Ken Burns "Jazz" and "The Sopranos: Season 3," both of which may have been on TV but are of a scope and caliber far beyond most multiplex efforts) But "The Royal Tenenbaums" took me a while. It took me two viewings to fully appreciate the "Tenenbaums," and a third to convince me I loved it. This is a rich movie, full of detail that initially moved too fast for me to absorb. It was only after I was able to watch the film without wondering where it was going and what was going to happen that I was able to sit back and fully appreciate it. There's a lot of quirkiness here, and that gives the whole thing a feeling of insincerity, but this is not an insincere film. Many critics have pointed out that this movie is like a lot of other things; they mention Dickens, John Irving, Salinger, and Louise Fitzhugh and "The Magnificent Ambersons." And all of those comparisons are true. But what really struck me about the film, personally, is that so much of it didn't remind me of anything else. The open credit sequence, for example, fills my heart with joy, just the way all the characters are introduced in a stylised yet somehow naturalistic way. You have to love a movie (or at least *I* have to love a movie) in which characters' introductions include their book jackets. There's also the Gene Hackman aspect. I'm a huge Hackman fan but he works so often and in so many different directions it's sometimes hard to remember what makes him so distinctive. In this movie, it's all on display. He is truly inspired. The fact that he was ignored by the Academy means that I don't have to take anything they say seriously, ever again. Also, the scenes set in Eli Cash's apartment gave me more laughter than any comedy I've seen since "Kingpin." And the scene, near the end, in the ambulance (set to Nico's "Fairest of Seasons") made me genuinely sadder than any recent movie I can think of. This is not a particularly easy movie. But if work with it a little, it definitely grows on you.
Rating: 
Summary: Deceptively shallow
Review: Outside of Gosford Park, this film must have the best cast assembled for a single film since The Player. And it's an interesting, engaging film. It's nicely edited and put together, the format works well, and dividing the film into narrative chapters gives it a sense of rhythm and direction. Which isn't to say it actually has one. I came out of the film scratching my head a bit, wondering if I'd missed something. But when I thought about it, I couldn't figure out what there was to miss. The Royal Tenenbaums ambles along for a couple of hours without ever cohering, or even trying to: the characters are wildy exaggerated in random directions for no apparent reason other than the sight gag - which invariably isn't funny (a bright red 1970s red tracksuit? Har Har. 1970s Bjorn Borg getup? Har Har). Their adventures are similarly overblown. Now, this sort of approach works in two circumstances: genuine slapstick (e.g. Abbott & Costello), and dark irony (e.g. the Coen Brothers). Royal Tenenbaums sure isn't slapstick - other than for the occasional moment which produced a genuine cackle (for example, a marital celebrant being shoved down a flight of stairs) - and though it it holds itself out as a black comedy, it just isn't. While it has a few unsettling images, it can't be: It doesn't make a point, it doesn't have anything to say, and it ends on a horribly saccharine note which would undermine any irony in the film anyway. The black humour therefore is just incongruous. What remains is an unconvincing tale about an unconvincing bunch of folks - beautifully acted, shot and edited, sure, and with a soundtrack certain to go platinum. But everyone - Murray, Stiller, Paltrow, Glover (maybe not Hackman) plays it straight. Slapstick without a funnyman, anyone? Pass.
Rating:
Summary: Like Rushmore but darker
Review: I really enjoyed this movie because I knew what to expect from it. I am a fan of Rushmore (also written and directed by Wes Anderson and co-written by Owen Wilson) This is a very dark comedy with dramatic elements that make it all worth while. Like Rushmore I saw people bored to tears watching it but it is definately not for everyone. If you didn't like Rushmore or didn't see it then definately rent this before buying it.
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