Last night I watched the youngest movie on my list, The Royal Tenenbaums, which is also my first Wes Anderson film! The film was basically exactly how I imagined a Wes Anderson film being, based on how other film majors talk about him and how the trailers convey the tone of the films. It’s quirky, fun, and filled with dark humor in a way that makes it feel like a vividly colorful picture book.
The story follows a family of child geniuses who grew up and lost their way in their world. The oldest child is Chas Tenenbaum, played by Ben Stiller. Chas is a child prodigy in the business world who now raises his two sons because his wife died in a plane crash. Then there’s Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), a gifted playwright who is now married to a character played by Bill Murray. Their relationship is hilarious in that she is basically a grown-up Wednesday Addams and he is kind of like an intellectual Santa Claus.
The joke about Margot is that every character works to constantly remind her that she was adopted, unlike her brothers. It’s sad and funny at the same time.
The final brother is played by Luke Wilson, named Richie. He was a tennis pro until he choked at a match and retired. Owen Wilson, who also co-wrote the screenplay (if you’re ever wondering how Owen Wilson managed to get an Oscar nomination, it’s this), plays the family friend Eli Cash.
The film follows the three children as they move back in with their mom, played by the amazing Anjelica Huston. Their estranged dad also comes back, claiming to have stomach cancer in order to get back on good terms with the family he abandoned decades ago. He’s probably the funniest character, because his way of trying to interact with both his children and his grandchildren shows just how bad of a parent he actually was.
Anjelica is great because she credits herself with being the reason behind her children’s genius, and no has to cope with the fact that all of her children became antisocial and just generally messed up.
But Wes Anderson (and Owen Wilson I guess) have concocted a quirky story full of entertaining family dynamics. It’s like watching one of those Christmas movies where the family all comes together, except these characters are even more dysfunctional (and much less cliché).
I found that the film lost a bit of direction towards the ending, because the setup is actually so funny that the ending just can’t hold up. Both Wilson brothers are in love with Margot (even though one of them is her “brother”), and she constantly ignores the fact that she’s married.
But just the general tone and character relationships are worth viewing, and I will make sure that this is not my last Wes Anderson film.
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