March 19, 2014The Royal Tenenbaums was the first Wes Anderson movie I ever watched. My family rented it right when it came out on video, and we all watched it together and I think it was one of the most uncomfortable movie-watching experiences I've ever had. I can't say I really enjoyed the movie at first, but that was mostly because everyone around me seemed to despise it. After giving it another chance (and many more since), it has become one of my favorite of Anderson's movies. This time around, I got to see it in theaters with my wife and my friends Patrick and Austin, and since we're all already fans it was a much more pleasant experience. The film follows the Tenenbaum family - Royal (Gene Hackman), his wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston), their sons Chas (Ben Stiller) and Richie (Luke Wilson), and their adopted daughter Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) - an eccentric and dysfunctional family of highly intelligent and talented individuals. As kids, the Tenenbaum children were considered brilliant and all very gifted, but as they grew up (and without a very stable family life) they each deteriorated and became weird, depressed adults. Through random, unconnected events, the kids all came back home to live with Etheline. Royal, who hadn't spent much time with his family, decided one day that he wanted to be part of their lives again, and faked a terminal illness to get his family to accept him. All sorts of strange situations popped up during their unconventional reunion, culminating in the marriage of Etheline to her longtime accountant, Mr. Sherman (Danny Glover). With a fantastic soundtrack and a very unique vision, The Royal Tenenbaums is one that is worth watching more than once for all the intricate details you may have missed the first time around (including a framed drawing of underwear on Eli Cash's (Owen Wilson) wall).
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