Film Review: The Royal Tenenbaums – 6/10

‘I always wanted to be a Tenenbaum, you know?‘

Generally, I try to go into every film really wanting to like it. Especially if it’s a film that lots of other people like. I want to feel what they feel. And yet, despite loving pretty much all of Wes Anderson’s work, when I first watched The Royal Tenenbaums over a decade ago, I really didn’t see what the fuss was all about, so I was pretty excited to give it another whirl and finally be able to join the club. It is with a heavy heart that I must admit that it’s just not that good…

When family patriarch Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) is taken ill, he returns to his family home to put things right with his ex-wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston) and his three grown children Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), Chas (Ben Stiller) and Richie (Luke Wilson).

Now, you know when you walk into an Anderson movie that you will have to endure some level of quirk and that the whole thing is gonna be kinda twee. But The Royal Tenenbaums is just too much. These characters are so cartoonish that it’s difficult to care for them either way. The plot meanders to a low key conclusion and, unusually for an Anderson movie, it’s not really funny either. A supporting cast featuring the above plus Owen Wilson (who also co-wrote the script with Anderson), Bill Murray and Danny Glover fail to elevate The Royal Tenenbaums into anything other than a dated curio that indulges all of Anderson’s worst traits.

The Royal Tenenbaums is not terrible. It still looks magnificent and the soundtrack is on point, but it’s simply not in the same league as Anderson’s best work (Rushmore, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom). Maybe I’ll give it another try in another ten years and finally understand the hype.