The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

The eccentric members of a dysfunctional family reluctantly gather under the same roof for various reasons.

Director:

Wes Anderson

Writers:

Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson

Stars:

Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 45 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
Irina Gorovaia	...	Young Margot Tenenbaum (as Irene Gorovaia)

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:

family relationships | forbidden love | unconventional family | eccentric family | lesbian kiss | 

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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:

4 January 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Royal Tenenbaums

Filming Locations:

U.S. Customs House, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$21,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$276,981, 16 December 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$52,364,010

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$19,077,240

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

Wes Anderson imagined the story that would later become "The Royal Tennenbaums", while listening to Ravel's "String Quartet in F", performed by the Britten Quartet.

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Goofs

It's said that Mordechai's feathers have gone white due to stress. The misconception that stress turns human hair white is because stress can kill off living follicles, so that the darker hair falls out leaving just the white hairs behind. It's probably different for birds.

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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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Crazy Credits

The film title first appears on a library book being checked out, then several of the books are seen, and finally the book cover becomes a title card.

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Alternate Versions

Three different songs were used for the final sequence at various points. Some advance screenings (including the New York Film Festival version) featured the Beatles' "I'm Looking Through You" (not the "official" version, but rather the alternate version available on the "Anthology 2" CD set), while others used the Beach Boys' "Sloop John B." The final version of the scene is accompanied by Van Morrison's "Everyone."

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Connections

References Rushmore (1998)

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Soundtracks

String Quartet in F Major
(Second Movement)
Written by Maurice Ravel
Exclusive representation Editions DURAND, Paris (France)
Performed by Ysaye Quartet
Courtesy of Decca Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Beauty found in comic places

The Royal Tenenbaums, to put it shortly, is a weird movie. It is the story of a family longing for its heyday to return. It is the story of a man who wants to be accepted. It is a story of redemption, filled with small epiphanies and smaller details that make for excellent viewing. It takes delight in showcasing its brilliant characterizations and depictions of social oddities. Many will find it hard to relate to such strangers and therefore decline to revel in this film's cinematic glory. We can pity them.

Those that enjoy Wes Anderson's films can be put into two categories. There are those that simply find them to be quirky joyrides and laugh them off as such. Then there are those who recognize the loneliness in all of the characters Wes Anderson writes - it is this sense of loneliness that Wes Anderson, as a storyteller, brings to the screen. It is this sense of loneliness that makes Wes Anderson one of the most visionary filmmakers out there today.

The Royal Tenenbaums is an altogether thrilling experience. It is epic, filled with pageantry. Though categorized as a comedy, at times it seems darker then typical black comedies - a drama, or even a triumphant tragedy of life's unrealized outcasts. As Margot Tenenbaum (Gwenyth Paltrow) says in one of the last scenes: "Well, I'm sure he'll get over it." The Royal Tenenbaums is a rejoicing in the human spirit's reluctant but continuous march forward.