Rating: 
Summary: Great little film
Review: Great cast of actors who perform admirably in this well written and scripted amusing portrayal of the ultimate disfunctional family.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest movies ever
Review: This movie is incredible, every actor played their roles to a t. Hackman was awesome as usual, the Wilson brothers are great as well. this also has to be one of the funnier movies out there as well. All around great movie. Id recomend this movie to everyone from the pope to my drunkest friend.
Rating:
Summary: Quickly climbing to my favorite film of all time...
Review: A film this deep, this emotional, this complex and this mind-blowingly funny has to be appreciated. Not only does Anderson create a brilliant comedy with Tennenbaums, he also creates a film that deals very artfully with profound, literature-worthy themes like death, family, depression, love, drugs and suicide. Working through one of the most talented casts ever put in front of a camera together, Anderson creates a family of geniuses centered around Royal, played by the always engaging and often brilliant Gene Hackman. Royal is an enigma, one can never be sure whether he's joking, scheming or serious. However, seeing him play off Danny Glover, playing the family's accountant, in a particular scene in the kitchen makes the audience truly want to think he's telling the truth. Royal is bigoted, arrogant, egotistical and insensitive. He is also, as those types of characters tend to be, the most entertaining of the lot. Teach in David Mamet's American Buffalo comes to mind. The other Tennenbaums and the Tennenbaum childrens' old friend Eli are all brilliantly portrayed. Luke Wilson turns in an especially noteworthy performance as Richie, the most well adjusted and yet most depressed of the three children. Margot, played to drab, uninterested perfection by Gwyneth Paltrow, is married to Bill Murray, one of Anderson's company, both of who create absolutely hysterical characters. Ben Stiller does his best acting work to date as Chas, the overprotective widower in a jogging suit. Anjelica Houston is the wise and eqally dysfunctional matriarch Etheline. Eli, played by Owen Wilson, is noteworthy as well for his flamboyant nature. Eli is the uber-wannabe. At the end of the day, this film is falling down funny. It is a comedy par excellence, but it's also a tounching, tear jerking, beautifully shot movie about a family that can't quite figure out how to love each other, try though they might. If you couldn't find something to love in this movie, your soul must be loose or something.
Rating: 
Summary: Excessively Stylized + Brutally Slow = Pretentiously Lame
Review: I have a theory that the people who really loved this movie have seen too many movies. I first noticed the symptons with Siskel & Ebert in the early 80's. They would go wild over a hideous waste-o-time like BARFLY or some French flick about a plant in a window and I suspected that they'd seen so many lame Hollywood by-the-numbers movies that ANYTHING different was a masterpiece.
With ROYAL TENENBAUMS, they've actually gone beyond something different: they made a movie that's so empty, so devoid of adding up to anything that it's actually HIP. Go figure. I kept waiting for something to happen but then, after an hour and a half in, I realized that whatever was supposed to happen WAS happening. Almost the entire movie feels like a lead-in setting something up. I love Gene Hackman but he needs to do more than smoke and adjust his glasses to get an Oscar. The Wilson brothers confused me since they, despite looking exactly like brothers, don't play brothers (wouldn't it have made more sense to have Ben Stiller play the neighbor and Luke Wilson play his part?). Gwyneth Paltrow never goes beyond the fragile stare of all those child portraits on the wall. Maybe they were shooting for the eccentric comedy/drama of THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP. It would've been nice to see that they were shooting for something.
Rating:
Summary: A misunderstood film
Review: The problem with The Royal Tenenbaums is that people thought it was going to be a hilarious comedy. It is not. The movie is quite amusing and I consider it to be quite realistic, but hilarious is not the correct discriptor for most people. The movie becomes more beautiful every time I watch it, and remains one of my favorite films of all time. This movie is about an eccentric, but applicable, family with some interpersonal issues. The movie does not revolve around a single character, but instead revolves around a series of individuals. The viewer comes to recognize eash character for what they are, and while some are unorthodox, ok they are all pretty unusual, he or she cannot resist developing an affinity for them. The picture quality of this DVD is quite excellent. I bought it used for a nominal amount, and it was well worth the money. The extra footage included on the second disk is also worth the money. Once you eliminate the belief that this is like Dumb and Dumber, the movie is quite enjoyable. I don't understand why there is so much criticism of this movie. It is definetly worth a rental anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Regal Dysfunction
Review: I include this film among those which do not easily fit into a category other than "comedy." For example, Beat the Devil (1953), A Thousand Clowns (1965), A Fish Called Wanda (1988), Cold Comfort Farm (1995), Waking Ned Devine (1998), and Gosford Park (2002). Oh sure, each has a plot of sorts but not much really happens. Several memorable characters. Highly literate dialogue. In some instances, brilliant exterior cinematography. However, in my opinion, the appeal of such films is largely explained in terms of the bizarre relationships they portray between and among characters, most of whom are oddballs. That is certainly true of the members of the Tanenbaum family, with the possible exception of Etheline (Anjelica Huston). Royal Tanenbaum (Gene Hackman) is the family's, indeed the film's gravitational center. For reasons best revealed in the film, Royal has been alienated from his wife, two sons, and daughter for many years. A convicted felon and disbarred attorney, Royal seeks a reunion with his family for economic as well as emotional reasons. Working brilliantly with a screenplay co-authored by director Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson (who also plays a Tanenbaum wannabe, Eli Cash), Hackman displays a full range of comic gifts previously evident in other films, notably Young Frankenstein (1974), Get Shorty (1995) and The Birdcage (1996). I hasten to add that Hackman's immense talent also allows him to invest the character of Royal Tanenbaum with dimensions and nuances of decency which (for me) offset his reckless and sometimes contemptible behavior. Royal has moments of poignancy which are almost palpable. Perhaps these brief remarks help to suggest why I find this film so difficult to categorize. The direction is crisp and the acting consistently first-rate. The screenplay combines zany humor with human deficiencies which are at times endearing. When Royal Tanenbaum selected an epitaph for himself, he also inadvertently provided an appropriate affirmation of this film's essential spirit. The two-disc DVD version includes several special features which include a commentary by Anderson, "With the Filmmaker: Portraits by Albert Maysles, featuring Wes Anderson"; exclusive video interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and Danny Glover; and "The Peter Bradley Show," featuring interviews with additional cast members.
Rating:
Summary: The Worst Film of all Time
Review: I went into this film really wanting to like it. I'd read reviews of people who'd absolutely loved it, and people who absolutely hated it. Two hours later, I was part of the latter, which is a shame, as I really loved Rushmore and at the time it seemed that Wes Anderson was one of the best directors upcoming directors today. Well, he WAS one of the best upcoming directors. And what were Criterion thinking, giving this film their usual deluxe treatment? A dts track was certainley a silly idea.
Rating:
Summary: beauty to behold
Review: Right from the beginning,Wes Anderson sets the tone for a slice of life not far from your next door neighbor.From the brilliant screenwriting,set designs and superb casting to the last details of the dvd packaging.
In Eli Cash`s words "I always wanted to be a Tenenbaum" in which Royal replies "so did I"
Here Here!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: A "Feel-Good" Comedy about a Dysfunctional Family
Review: As the Tannenbaums all undergo a change in fortune for the better, this film has lots of clever dialogue and good acting along the way. It is not a film for everybody, though--if a person is sensitive about dysfunctional families and/or "gray" humor (not really all that dark), it could be like ten fingers on a chalkboard. But it beats the proverbial socks off dozens of other recent comedies I've seen, and I can see why it was nominated for Oscars. Especially amusing to my family was the scene in which Ben Stiller's character and his two sons all wear matching black Adidas running suits when they go to the cemetary.
Rating:
Summary: not feel-good, but you won't feel bad either
Review: The most telling line is when Royal Tenenbaum, the estranged patriarch of a dysfunctional family of geniuses, apologizes for being an a******, and is told he's now only a son of a "witch." Royal Tenenbaum, upon hearing that his wife from whom he has lived apart for 22 years -- although never divorced her -- is considering marrying her accountant, returns to the family home faking stomach cancer. His kids -- Chas, a widower who was a real estate magnate in his teens, Richie, a pro tennis player who fumbled a major match, and Margot, who was always introduced as "the adopted daughter", and is an unrememebered playwright -- all return although not that happy about it and, particularly, him. Royal is a liar, a cheat and all-around awful. But everyone else in the house is messed up too -- including Richie's best friend Eli who lives across the street, and Margot's much older husband Raleigh. The movie progresses as they become a little less messed up. In fact, it was harsh reality that no one's problems are completely solved and the child geniuses don't suddenly blossom in their greatness. But everyone is just a little bit better for coming together and confronting each other.
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