Rating: 
Summary: Here's the thing, this movie isn't for everyone.
Review: If your parents were the high school sweet heart type, or the Ned and Maude Flanders type you won't get it. If your siblings/aunts/uncles/cousins/ect are the kind you wouldn't think twice about introducing your friends to go see Harry Potter again. (Not that there's anything wrong with Harry Potter.) For me the bueaty of this movie was that I could relate to the characters. There was little horrifying pieces of them in me, and people I'm genetically similar to. It's funny because it's true. It grabs you in, because you've been alinated by your dad. Or just thought you were. I felt for all of them. When Luke Wilson says "Of course it was dark" it was just as great as "Obivously Dr, you've never been a 13 year old girl." Also, as it's been previously stated there is so much attention to detail. People who claim it wasn't funny at all clearly weren't paying attention. There is so much there from the spotted mice, to paintings on the walls. All in all I would say this movie left me in a totally satisfied meloncholy. It's the kind of movie I want to see more, not only for the movie it self, but it's the kind of dialouge you want to be able to quote when you hear it.
Rating: 
Summary: WIERD!!!
Review: Went into this movie thinking it would keep me laughing. Well, it didn't! There are a lot of well known actors in this, but it fails to produce the laughs. The storyline is disjointed, and quirky. The film is shot in documentary style format. I sat through the film, and just kept saying "how wierd". It was a big let down. Save your $8.00 and go to another movie!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: And, I thought MY family was nuts!
Review: I could totally identify with this family -- in fact, it made me more thankful of my own! I highly recommend this movie to anyone who has ever been estranged from a member of their immediate family. I found it to be very heart warming as well!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time & money on this movie
Review: I do not understand why Anjelica Houston and Gene Hackman signed up for this film. It is black humor, but horribly done and we were very disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: "It closed after playing two weeks to mixed reviews..."
Review: The latest film from director Wes Anderson and writer Owen Wilson, the Royal Tennenbaums tells the story of Royal Tennenbaum (Gene Hackman). Royal and his wife Elise (Anjelica Huston) managed to sire (and adopt) a clan of three geniuses -- financial wizard Chas (Ben Stiller), former tennis star Richie (Luke Wilson), and terminally depressed and adopted daughter Margot (Gwynneth Paltrow) who is an award-winning playwright. After being acclaimed as youthful children, the Tennenbaum geniuses are soon forgotten by the rest of the world and all three sink into self-imposed obscurities. Margot, who is missing half the finger as the result of a macabre incident that I won't ruin by going into here, ends up married to a dull behavioral analyst (Bill Murray) while having an affair with a childhood friend, Eli (Owen Wilson) who -- desperately wanting to be a part of the acclaimed Tennenbaum geniuses -- has driven himself both to write a best-selling Western and into the depths of a dangerous drug addiction. Chas, still recovering from the death of his wife a year earlier, has become obsessively over protective of his two children. Meanwhile, Richie's tennis career has self-destructed, largely as a result of his obsession with his adopted sister. And what of Royal, the man whose constant criticism drove this clan to genius and whose permanently self-centered personality helped drag it down? Royal, having recently completed a prison term and disbarred from practicing law (for reasons that, again, I won't ruin by divulging here) hasn't seen his children for ten years. Then, he finds out that Elise is considering the marriage proposal of her kindly accountant, Henry (Danny Glover). Still in love with his wife (and flat broke as well), Royal returns to his family. As the above outline makes obvious, the Royal Tennenbaums is not a film that can be summed up in one sentence. Much like Anderson and Wilson's previous Rushmore, this is a film that leaves you feeling as if you've just read an obscure but brilliant book. (This point is made even more obvious by the use of a narrator -- Alec Baldwin giving his most likeable performance in years -- and the fact that all of the characters are published authors in some way.) This is a film that takes the most stereotypical of ideas -- an errant father returns to heal his family -- and, in its quirky way, shakes up both its audience and its characters in unexpected, often haunting ways. Royal never becomes a saint and, even as its quirky characters and throw-away one liners are often hilarious, this film never loses its thoughtful, melancholy feel. The Royal Tennenbaums is a moody, introspective drama disguised as a comedy. As such, several viewers seem to have been left scratching their heads at the film, asking the ever popular question, "What was the point!?" Like a great novel, the point is what the viewer chooses to take away from it. This is a film that requires you to think even after the final credit rolls and all the more power to it. Which is not to say that this film is perfect. Its not and -- of Anderson's three films -- its probably the weakest. Then again, considering that those other films were Rushmore and Bottle Rocket, how huge a criticism is this? Its like complaining that Scorsese's latest isn't as good as Goodfellas or Raging Bull. Paltrow, while giving an adequate performance, is never one hundred per cent believable in her role -- she always seems like a star showing off. Both Luke Wilson and Stiller give excellent performances (with Luke probably doing his best work to date) but its hard to accept nervy New Yorker Stiller as laid back Texan Wilson's brother. However, the joys of the film more than make up for the film's flaws. First amongst these joys is the performance from Gene Hackman. Hackman finds the character's humanity without making us forget that this is not a wonderful guy. It may be a cliché to say but in this film, Hackman proves himself to be a great actor. Danny Glover, who at first seems to be almost an offensive stereotype, also turns in great work. To Anderson's credit, the film gradually reveals the complexity of Glover's character until finally, its clear that Glover is actually the strongest character. As drug-addicted Eli, Owen Wilson is a comic marvel and Seymour Cassel is hilarious as always in a nicely developed cameo role. At one point, we are told that one of Margot's autobiographical plays closed after two weeks after receiving mixed reviews. One fears that this might also be the fate of this film. Certainly, I know that many of the people I saw this quirky, melancholy, at times frustrating, but in the end rather moving film with were left feeling that somehow they had been cheated. They'd come down to the theaters expecting to see either a heart warming family film or a wild comedy and instead they found themselves watching a film featuring flawed, at times rather closed-off people that didn't even have the decency to wrap everything up neatly at the end. As the woman in front of me said, "The characters were all great but that story -- well, there was no story." No, lady, the characters were the story. Michael Bay can't always be there to explain, step-by-excruciating-step, what everything means and how you're supposed to react. Sometimes, a director is actually willing to ask an audience to think for itself -- thank goodness for small miracles. Thank goodness for Wes Anderson.
Rating:
Summary: Ditto "Major Disappointment"
Review: Too many players and little development led to less than empathetic roles, a wasted celebrity cast, and uneven pacing. (Think Anniversary Party.) Introduction of new and unsubstantiated character dysfunction (e.g., celeb writer's substance abuse 3/4 through the movie) does not equal a plot twist. For a how-to on multiple character development, try Short Cuts or Magnolia. Most of the humor was found in the movie's opening montage (similar to Max Fisher's extracurricular activities in Rushmore). And the most beautiful cinematography, the moments before Wilson's suicide attempt, seemed out of place, despite the movie's billings as a dark comedy. Also disappointing was Hackman's racism towards Glover (a la Nicholson's character in As Good As It Gets). Gratuitous racism died with Quentin Tarantino's 15 minutes of fame. For a look at why critics rave about Wes Anderson, watch Rushmore.
Rating:
Summary: a brilliantly rendered family portrait
Review: This film is wonderful. There are moments of hilarious humor, and moments of heartbreaking emotion, some of it unexpected but nonetheless completely effective. I was floored by Luke Wilson's performance, and the rest of the cast, especially Gene Hackman, play their parts with uniform excellence. Wes Anderson has crafted one of the best films of the year. Visually fascinating and totally absorbing. The Tenenbaum family is a family that I'll be happy to visit again soon.
Rating:
Summary: The Royal Tenenbaums
Review: This is one of the best movies of the year. The characters were all well developed in such a short amount of time and the movie overall movies fast. The movie has many laughs. I think that it is better or as good as Rushmore.
Rating:
Summary: The Royal Tenenbaums
Review: This is one of the best movies of the year. The characters were all well developed in such a short amount of time and the movie overall moves fast. The movie has many laughs. I think that it is better or as good as Rushmore.
Rating:
Summary: One of 2001's best.
Review: The Royal Tenenbaums fulfills the promise that director/co-writer Wes Anderson showed in his phenomenally funny debut film, Bottle Rocket, and far surpasses the so-so follow-up, Rushmore. The film tells the story of Royal Tenenbaum (an excellent Gene Hackman, who I suspect will receive an Oscar nomination for this performance)and his quirky family, starting 20+ years ago, when he and his wife Etheline, played by Anjelica Huston, were raising their 3 genius children. We're shown the odd life the family led, and now we see the effect that odd lifestyle had on them. Daughter Gwyneth Paltrow spends her whole day in the bathtub, watching TV; she's married to a Doctor (Bill Murray) who she doesn't love. He spends his time pining for her, and studying a doofy teenaged boy who seems to have a new disease, which combines color-blindness, amnesia, super-acute hearing, and a variety of other ailments. The sons, Ben Stiller and Luke Wilson, are no better: Stiller, a genius who once invented Dalmation Mice, now spends all of his time trying to keep his sons, Ari & Uzi, safe from the type of accidents that killed his wife. The boys must endure 16-time-a-week workouts, and 3 AM fire drills. Wilson is a washed-up Tennis Pro; his career ended after a very public nervous breakdown brought on by seeing his adopted sister, who he is in love with, with her new husband. Hackman pretends to be dying, and the next thing you know, the whole clan is under one roof again, as Dad tries to make amends for a lifetime of neglect. There are some really wonderful performances, and some big laughs (I especially enjoyed the running "Gypsy Cab" gag), but there are also some really touching moments, such as Hackman's attempts to steal his Grandchildren away for an afternoon. My only problem was Owen Wilson: his character was not only loathsome and irritating, but totally extraneous. It contributed absolutely NOTHING to the film. But, since Wilson is listed as co-writer, I suppose he had to find SOME way to squeeze himself into the picture. Fans of quirky movies like Raising Arizona will love this one.
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