Watching a Wes Anderson movie just makes you realize how much recycling
Hollywood does. I mean, most films are just a parade of shots and
ideas stolen from other films masquerading as something new. Maybe
the shots that Wes does have been done before.
But you could fool the hell out of me. Wes Anderson has a way with
film. A way that makes you tthk that you are seeing something utterly
original.
In short, I had never seen a movie like "Bottle
Rocket". I had never seen a movie like "Rushmore"
before I saw that one. And until Saturday night, I had never seen
a movie remotely like "The Royal Tenenbaums".
"The Royal Tenenbaums" concerns a self-proclaimed family
of geniuses. Chas Teneeums (Ben Stiller) has been a financial wizard
since the age of eight. Margot Tenenbaum (Gwyneth Paltrow, who has
never looked quite so forlorn) is a playwright who first won accolades
at the age of eleven. Richie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson) is a phenomenal
tennis player. Or, at least, he was before his breakdown at the age
of twenty-six.
The children have all fallen on hard times as of late. Perhaps it
has something to do with their iconoclast father, Royal (Gene Hackman).
Royal has not had anything to do with any of the children (or his
estranged wife, Etheline, played by Angelica Huston) for several years.
It is only when Etheline considers marrying her accountant and bridge
partner Henry (Danny Glover, who seems to have been in hiding since
the fourth installment of the "Lethal Weapon" series, having
seen that film I can understand why) that Royal appears at the Tenenbaum
house, claiming that he is dying of cancer and desperate to make connections
anew with his estranged family.
As you have probably noticed, "The Royal Tenenbaums" is
a strange, eccentric movie full of strange, bright, eccentric people.
Many critics have spent many paragraphs bitching about this. But I
fail to see why. Perhaps they are a little too eccentric, but I feel
that it is better, and more telling of Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson's
unique talents, that the characters suffer from an excess of personality
in this era when so many film characters suffer from a lack of personality.
The Tenenbaums and their friends and acquaintences are filled to the
brim with quirks and habits and intelligence. They are bursting to
the seams with vibrant gusto. And I, for one, could not be happier.
Wes and Owen's script has raised the bar and each and every one of
the actors in this film responds in kind. Danny Glover, Luke Wilson,
Bill Murray, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelica Huston and Owen
Wilson all give marvelous, layered and endearingly eccentric performances.
They all seem to be comfortable in the skins of their characters and
they seem, also, to be having a ball. Their joy of performance spills
over and out of the corners of the screen.
But the real revelation, the life force of the film, in fact, is Gene
Hackman. Gene so often seems to be on auto pilot, given nothing real
challenging to do. He often seems to be standing in a film, waiting
for a reason to be brilliant. In "Enemy
of the State", "Crimson Tide" and many other films,
he seems to be a paycheck player. He's just waiting for someone to
challenge him, to give him a reason to be at his best. But in movies
like "Unforgiven" and "The French Connection",
he is busting his ass and shining like the star that he is. In those
films, he shows you what all the hype is about. He amazes you with
the very craft of acting. Well, "The Royal Tenenbaums" is
a film like those two. Gene has a reason to believe again as Royal
Tenenbaum. He has never turned in a comedic performance this flawless,
at least not as far as I have seen. And he gives us, in turn, a reason
to believe in him. Each line he delivers with absolute perfection.
Each facial expression, each nuance, each bit of body language and
moment of his impeccable timing is played to the hilt. Gene deserves
recognition here like he hasn't in years. He is perfection achieved
as Royal Tenenbaum, one of his finest creations onscreen.
Which isn't to say that "The Royal Tenenbaums" is a perfect
movie. Oh, it's damn close. It's got many moments of utter greatness.
More than most of the year's films, in fact. It has personality, for
one thing. It has a sense of itself, of the bizarre. It's a beautiful
balancing act of the absurd and the serious. There are a couple moments
that don't quite gel, and one or two moments where it loses its focus
for a bit, but it's always back on track soon enough. And the film's
production design, cinematography and editing are all superb. New
York in this film is a place that doesn't really exist, but it should.
It's an ideal of New York, a young man's J.D. Salinger dream of New
York City. And it is marvelously realized. It has thousands of unique
little touches. It has the sort of layered jokes that made "Rushmore"
such a joy to discover over and over again.
No, it's not as good as "Rushmore".
But few modern comedies were. No, "The Royal Tenenbaums"
has to settle for being the best comedy of the year and containing
one of Gene Hackman's finest roles ever. But I think you will find
that is more than enough to recommend it.
