The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

An estranged family of former child prodigies reunites when one of their member announces he has a terminal illness.

Director:

Wes Anderson

Writers:

Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson

Stars:

Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 11 wins & 29 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gene Hackman	...	Royal Tenenbaum
Anjelica Huston	...	Etheline Tenenbaum
Ben Stiller	...	Chas Tenenbaum
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Margot Tenenbaum
Luke Wilson	...	Richie Tenenbaum
Owen Wilson	...	Eli Cash
Bill Murray	...	Raleigh St. Clair
Danny Glover	...	Henry Sherman
Seymour Cassel	...	Dusty
Kumar Pallana	...	Pagoda
Alec Baldwin	...	Narrator (voice)
Grant Rosenmeyer	...	Ari Tenenbaum
Jonah Meyerson	...	Uzi Tenenbaum
Aram Aslanian-Persico	...	Young Chas Tenenbaum
Irene Gorovaia	...	Young Margot Tenenbaum

Storyline

Three grown prodigies, all with a unique genius of some kind, and their mother are staying at the family household. Their father, Royal had left them long ago, and comes back to make things right with his family.

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Plot Keywords:

child prodigy | terminal illness | genius | tennis player | skeleton | 

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Taglines:

Family Isn't A Word... It's A Sentence.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language, sexuality/nudity and drug content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

14 December 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los excéntricos Tenenbaums

Filming Locations:

144th Street & Convent Avenue, Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$21,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$59,632 (Sweden) (22 March 2002)

Gross:

$52,353,636 (USA) (14 June 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, American Empirical Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original hawk used to play Mordecai was kidnapped during shooting and held for ransom - production could not wait for him to be returned which is the reason that the bird that appears later in the movie has "more white feathers" - it's a different bird.

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Goofs

During the suicide scene, Richie Tenebaum has an very uneven haircut and has only shaved a small portion of his face, with the rest of the shaving cream still on his face as he attempts suicide and as he is rushed through the hospital. When he is in the recovery room, his hair is evenly cut and his face is freshly shaved.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Royal Tenenbaum bought the house on Archer Avenue in the winter of his 35th year. Over the next decade, he and his wife had three children, and then they separated.

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Connections

References Ghostbusters (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Wigwam"
Written by Bob Dylan
Published by Big Sky Music
Performed by Bob Dylan
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Wonderful, hilarious and dark. A great film.

Writing/Director team Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson follow up their wonderful 1999 film Rushmore with something not completely different but altogether more satisfying and a good deal more powerful.

The Tenenbaums are a wealthy New York family of eccentric genuises, headed by Angelica Huston. The pater familias Gene Hackman has been kicked out and estranged from the family for twenty years. The film begins with a prologue detailing the lives of the Tenenbaum clan - Ben Stiller, the real estate genius and safety obsessive, now widowered with two boys. Luke Wilson a former tennis wunderkind, now an isolated, lonely character all alone in the world and Gwyneth Paltrow, the adopted daughter, playwright, depressive and all-round misery guts. Other players include Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Danny Glover.

The excellent cast is testament to the fantastic script. Filled with one-liners, hilarious situations and visual gags, it is a real winner. However, it would be a mistake to take this for an out-and-out comedy. Two-thirds in, the script takes a turn for the utterly dark with a bloody, affecting scene, not to everyone's taste and at odds with the film gone beforehand. It's a brave move by Wilson and Anderson and one that pays off in dividends, elevating this movie above others in the genre.

Hackman gives as good as he's got as Royal Tenenbaum, who takes a turn for the better when his kids wake him up to the kind of man he really is. His transformation from manipulative and selfish to a genuinely lonely and honest man is wholly believable. When he emerges as the only man who can bring the whole family together again, it really brings a smile to your face. The rest of the cast, with the exception of Luke Wilson, aren't given a huge amount to do but do extremely well with what they've got. Luke Wilson is superb, playing the confused and alienated Richie, at odds with himself and the rest of his family. His is possibly the best character in the film, symbolising all that is wrong with the Tenanbaum clan.> As usual, The Royal Tenenbaums is rife with Anderson's distinctive directorial touches - 90 degree overhead shots, dialogue-free sequences played to classic rock anthems, and memorably, towards the end, a one-take canvas shot, as beautiful as it is inspired.

Special mention must also be given to the New York painted in the film. All Georgian houses, tree-lined avenues and flat sky lines, it's one of the most beautiful depections of this city ever seen in a movie.

All in all, a delighful tragi-comedy, with great characters, lush direction and great gags. Don't miss it!