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Wes Anderson might be the most singularly interesting filmmaker working today. Unlike older directors such as Scorsese and Altman, who have well-developed styles the consistency of which tend to blunt their impact, Anderson is only on his third film. This makes his approach seem fresh and exciting, as if we're seeing something for the first time. But unlike other young directors, Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream) comes to mind, Anderson's style also has a maturity and sophistication that belie his years. With Bottle Rocket, his debut feature, and 1998's Rushmore, he showed an affinity for quirky characters and wonderfully dry humor. That reaches new heights in The Royal Tenenbaums, this year's best Hollywood
movie.

The Royal in Royal Tenenbaums is not an adjective but rather the first name of the patriarch of a very unusual family. As the film explains in a hilarious introduction, Royal (Gene Hackman) bought a house "in the winter of his thirty-fifth year. Over the next decade, he and his wife had three children, and then they separated." We're quickly introduced to the kids: Chas, Margot, and Richie. All three were child prodigies. Chas was a financial wizard, Margot a world-famous playwright, and Richie a star tennis player. However, their childhood, sparkling as it may have been, did not set the foundation for a happy adulthood. Their mother, Etheline Tenenbaum (Anjelica Huston), was overbearing, while Royal was self-absorbed and something of a fraud.

The children have reached their adult years but are simply coasting on past achievements. Chas (Ben Stiller), whose wife recently died, is obsessed with his children's safety, going so far as to run timed fire drills in the middle of the night that end with him announcing, "We're all dead. Burned to a crisp." Margot (Gwenyth Paltrow), who's now married to psychologist Raleigh St. Clair (Bill Murray), spends most of her time locked in the bathroom watching tv and surreptitiously smoking. Richie (Luke Wilson), after an embarrassing breakdown in a nationally-televised tennis match, is now cruising the world in a run-down boat, cut-off from everyone. Royal lives in a fancy hotel where his best friend is an elevator operator, but he's run out of money and is about to be kicked out. Only Etheline seems well-adjusted, though her life is about to take a turn when her devoted accountant (Danny Glover) unexpectedly proposes marriage. All of this is wonderfully conveyed in the introduction through droll narration, very short scenes, witty visual jokes, and the accompaniment of The Beatles' "Hey Jude."

Royal, who's been estranged from his family for years, hears about his wife's impending marriage and decides that he has to break it up. Besides, he has nowhere to stay, so moving back home seems as good as anything. So, he announces that he has stomach cancer, only six weeks to live, and wants to reunite with his children to set things right. The children have their own reasons for moving back home, and suddenly Etheline's house is full again. Oh, and a wacky childhood friend played by Owen Wilson shows up, too.

I've taken so long to describe the characters because they're such interesting people. The story itself is just the natural outworking of their relationships in often hilarious ways. Indeed, The Royal Tenenbaums is the funniest movie of the year. It's as dry as a frigid January night and often wickedly subtle (check out the names of various games in the game closet), and Anderson and his cast have fantastic timing. Hopefully, Gene Hackman will be honored with some kind of Oscar nomination, as he offers his third great performance of the year (Heist, Heartbreakers, and this one; we'll ignore the loathsome Behind Enemy Lines). His line deliveries are classic ("that's right...we've got another body buried here"), and his glee as he tries to both deceive and re-connect with his family is priceless. He has able foils in Stiller, Huston, and Glover, who are all solid. And the Wilson brothers, Murray, and Paltrow give wonderfully dry performances.

The Royal Tenenbaums isn't simply a comedy, though. Wes Anderson wants to explore how our families both make us who we are and also limit what we can become. He understands that we sometimes have to escape their influence and yet often must return if we're to understand ourselves.

The humor in Royal Tenenbaums is nicely balanced with a warm melancholy. This is partly due to the editing of Dylan Tichenor (Magnolia) who knows when to cut a scene short and when to let it linger. But it's also an effect of the fabulous soundtrack which uses familiar songs by the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and others in novel ways. Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time is Here" (also known as the Charlie Brown Christmas song) and the Beach Boys "Sloop John B" are particularly evocative. Finally, mention must be made of cinematographer Robert Yeoman (Rushmore), whose widescreen compositions are always interesting and whose direct framing is very effective.

I have no idea what kind of movies Wes Anderson will be making in thirty years. But if they're even half as good as Royal Tenenbaums, we have a lot to look forward to.  

J. Robert Parks  12/17/2001