Rating: 
Summary: If you liked Magnolia, run-don't walk-to the theater
Review: There is so much subtlety, finesse and detail in this film, there's no way to cover all its delights. Yes, Tennenbaums has obviously been compared to Rushmore, but I found it more "Magnolia-esque" in humor and almost as artistically filmed as Vertical Ray of the Sun. It's fun in the most pure and rude form. Don't miss it!!
Rating:
Summary: I think this conversation is over...
Review: i mean...i have not laughed through a movie the way i did with this one since...ever. i walked out and wished i could walk right back in and watch it again. easily one of the best movies of all time, wes anderson captures an atmosphere of tragic hilarity once again. the owen brothers are, as always, awesome, as are gwyneth, ben stiller, and the entire ensamble. gene hackman definitely deserves his golden globe nomination, and furthermore, deserves to win, for it's one of his best performances. when you see it, don't skip notice of the "artwork" in owen wilson's house--you'll laugh your 'butt' off!
Rating:
Summary: J.D. Salinger brought to life
Review: Brilliant concoction. The wonderfully bizarre remembering and regeneration of a family of disappointed geniuses. Great acting with a relief from the famousness of these big stars - good to see them finding something creative to celebrate in these modest parts. For fans of Franny and Zooey or any other of the Glass family tales, this is the same melancholic preciousness made vivid. You come to love and envy and pity them all in the same two breaths. There are no outsiders here, no commentators on the oddity of them all, but in the end feels like Edward Gorey, somehow, popped in with the gothic mansion of a house, the repeated childhood paintings, an attempted suicide. Totally enjoyable, maybe even redemptive, everyone's holiday with their family should feel more comfortable being unique in its grotesqueness.
Rating:
Summary: Movie of the year A+
Review: Wes Anderson has become the greatest hope for American cinema. The brilliant "Rushmore" has been followed up with an even better film. The comic brilliance of this film is extrodinary. Oscars should be given all around. I wish I made it.
Rating:
Summary: It smiles sweetly
Review: Like "Rushmore", it's less sprawling older brother, "The Royal Tenenbaums" enveloped me in a blissful feeling while I was watching it, only to leave me questioning if it was at all substantial once the credits rolled. Come the next morning, for both films, I concluded that they were indeed substantial, and damn near perfect."Tenenbaums" tackles two of my favourite cinematic themes: genius and loneliness. Genius, in that the three Tenenbaum children were once prodigies (in business, playwriting, and tennis). Loneliness, in that this genius has alienated them from a world that doesn't understand them. So what do you do when the world spits you out? You go home. The problem here is that home, and the family who lives there, is not nearly as comforting as it needs to be. Said family is led, mostly in absentia, by Royal Tenenbaum. Gene Hackman plays Royal with buckets of joie de vivre, but also some healthy cynicism. This dichotomy is no better exemplified than in my favourite line from the movie. Royal remarks that the past six days, during which he has been duplicitously reunited with his family, have been some of the best day of his life. The voice-over narrator (a surprisingly effective Alec Baldwin) says, "Immediately after saying that, Royal realized it was true." Royal is a man of charming bigotry and charlatanism. He's a self-described [jerk], but he's desperate, and sometimes desperation breeds genius. In this case, it literally does. Hackman, in what is the film's showiest role, is actually quite spare. Which works well, because the script is so odd that too much energy from its actors would knock it over. The rest of the cast, following Hackman's lead, is downright laconic. But as above, it works. Gwyneth Paltrow looks sleepy most of the time, owing as much to her heavy eyeliner as to her passive acting. Bill Murray, Danny Glover, and Angelica Huston, all actors who can tear up the screen if they wanted to, are finely subdued here. Most noteworthy is Luke Wilson, who hadn't impressed me up till now with his acting, but I think he does the best job here. He plays Richie Tenenbaum, former tennis ace, and the bridge between Royal and the rest of the family. The scene where they show him breaking down on the tennis court ("he's taken off both shoes, and one sock... it appears that he's crying") is genuinely heartbreaking. Luke, who's always just been just the less talented Wilson brother to me, is still just that. But he's narrowed the gap considerably. Even though everyone is, not exactly quiet, more restrained and gentle and sad, the movie manages to deliver a surprising amount of belly laughs. Only not where you'd expect them. You have to pay close attention to the details to find the belly laughs. Trust me, though, they're there. The more talented Wilson brother, Owen, does triple duty here. He not only produces and acts in the movie (this guy has such a strange and addictive rhythm to his acting, I always wish he was on screen more; here he has a small, but integral, role as a literary cowboy with a drug problem), but he also co-wrote the screenplay with director Wes Anderson. And as they did on "Rushmore", these two have nurtured a wonderful script between them. It sets up its story as a literary narrative, signaling scene changes by showing the chapter pages from a biography on the Tenenbaums. It has no use for Hollywood convention, but isn't so avant-garde that a mainstream audience will feel left out. And it takes its time and its own path to get to a very satisfying conclusion. Anderson, in his role as director, certainly has a distinct and effective visual style. He sets each scene like a wonderful tableau. The actor's face is front and centre in the frame, but he loads up the periphery with so much detail, you could spend a whole viewing of the film examining the furnishings and backgrounds and be just as entertained. Come to think of it, this is a movie that proves the axiom, "God is in the details" (the details again! This must be important). Only Anderson is confidant enough to never have to explain the details. Why do the characters always wearing the same clothes? Why is one of Chas Tenenbaum's (Ben Stiller, in a less than memorable role) sons named Uzi? Why does Eli Cash (Owen Wilson's lifelong neighbour of the Tenenbaums) wear tribal war paint to a wedding? Why is Raleigh St. Claire's (Bill Murray) unrelated young patient omnipresent? I relished these details, mainly because the 'why' of it all doesn't really matter. Some directors would have tried to explain their quirks. Anderson doesn't need to. He prefers life's beautiful, unexplained mysteries. If you can't stand unanswered questions, if you need everything laid out for you in neat little piles, if you abhor human eccentricity, this movie isn't for you. Anderson also shows that his forte for choosing appropriate music was not a fluke. The soundtrack is strong and effective. From a haunting instrumental of "Hey Jude" which plays over the opening credits, to the playing of a Rolling Stones record in a child's camping tent, which goes from the acid oddness of "She Smiled Sweetly" to the comfortably pop of "Ruby Tuesday", to Mark Mothersbaugh's score (he also did "Rushmore's" score, and once upon a time led Devo) of relentless acoustic guitar noodling, the music is integral, wispy, and perfect. Well, I'm running out of room here, and I don't feel like I've scratched the surface of how good this movie really is. I didn't even get to talk about Pagoda, or the great visual joke at the end concerning the changing colour of Chas' track suit, or... Actually, that's probably for the better. Because there are so many things here that you deserve to discover for your self. Keep your eyes open wide.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Quirky Film with Great Acting.
Review: The Royal Tenenbaums is sort of the archetype of quirky films. Strong performances by (especially) Gene Hackman, Angelica Houston, Gwyneth Paltrow and the Wilson Brothers, Luke and Owen basically make this picture. Ben Stiller, in my mind, was the least effective member of the cast. It has been said that many movies are about dysfunctional families, but the Royal Tenenbaums is about a dysfunctional family with every family member dysfunctional. That's a good summation. The movie is generally good-hearted, and genuinely funny. The acting is solid, the cinematography is excellent, and the art direction is very good. Overall, I gave this four stars based upon the acting, but ultimately, what is the point of this film???
Rating:
Summary: Best Film of the year!
Review: After much anticipation, I have to say that this film is not at all a let down. It is easily my favorite film this year. It is quite funny and often quite affecting. Many more excellent examples of Wes Anderson's keen eye, wonderful attention to detail and stunning use of music(another great score By mark Mothersbaugh also!). I've seen it twice and am still dying to see it again!
Rating:
Summary: A world uniquely Andersonian
Review: Wes Anderson's follow up to his cult classic "Rushmore" (a sort of 90s equivalent to "Heathers" in terms of its intelligent and brutally hilarious examination of young people) cements a filmmaking style that can now rightly be coined "Andersonian." "The Royal Tenenbaums" once again displays Anderson's remarkable ability to create completely self-enclosed, whimsical, fairy-tale environments and then populate them with extraordinary, but always real, characters who must overcome real human dilemmas. In this case, the central dilemma is whether or not three precocious, brilliant children (similar to J.D. Salinger's Glass family) who grew up to become troubled, lonely adults can find it within themselves to forgive their selfish, but genuinely regretful father, Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) -- the rejected patriarch of the Tenenbaum family. Anderson and co-writer Owen Wilson have lovingly drawn the characters of Chas (Ben Stiller), Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Richie (Luke Wilson) and have infused each of them with a poignancy that stays with you long after you leave the theater. You get a strong sense that inside each of their cold, brittle hearts is a tenderness that longs for the love and acceptance of their father, to whom they feel they were never quite good enough. In one particularly revealing scene, Royal confronts the older Margot (played beautifully by Paltrow in a role that harkens back to her small, dark, but always unforgettable early performances in films like "Hard 8" and "Se7en") on a staircase. He says to her, "You were a genius once," to which she replies glumly, "No, I wasn't." He says, "Well, that's what people said, anyway," as if he had needed confirmation from others as to the brilliance of his own children. This is a small example of the type of honesty that Anderson and Wilson bring to their treatment of each of their characters. There are simply no easy solutions to the problems that the central characters in this film deal with, and Anderson and Wilson do them (and us) the justice of allowing them to grow only as quickly as each of them are able. Even something as simple as Margot attempting, but failing, to quit smoking in the film exemplifies this treatment. Some reviewers have criticized Anderson by saying that he spent more time fabricating his unique, filmic world than in developing his characters. While it is true that "Rushmore" presented us with a much more fully realized character (Max Fischer), it is unfair to compare that film to "Tenenbaums," since the latter is clearly meant to be an exploration of an entire family (thus the tagline, "Family isn't a word, it's a sentence"), and ensemble pieces are rarely, if ever, as tight as singe-character pieces. No, the gift that "Tenenbaums" presents us with is, by the end, making us want to be a part of this grand family, as troubled and unpredictable and loopy though it may be. Not only this, but the film made me want to get on better terms with my own family, and for that, I feel like I owe a debt of thanks to Mr. Anderson and Mr. Wilson.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Movie About Redemption
Review: What more can be said? Wes Anderson has an incredible way of taking characters and creating characatures. His direction, cinematography, and soundtrack may owe much to "The Graduate", but it is appropriate and done with care. Gene Hackman deserves an Award for his role as Royal the curmudgeon. I also found it appropriate that Bill Murray, Ben Stiller, and Owen Wilsons roles were toned down to balance with all the other eccentric players. And it is always fun to find the old standbys who have been in all his past movies! Best Play Ever Man!
Rating:
Summary: Royal Tenenbaums is GREAT
Review: I was dying to see this since I first heard about it because I loved "Rushmore" so much. "The Royal Tenenbaums" is - amazingly - far better and more mature and even funnier than "Rushmore". I haven't enjoyed a movie this much in a long time. Comic, dramatic, sweet, sad, poignant, deeply felt. Truly great, inspirational and inspired filmmaking. A must see.
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