Ladies and Gentlemen, it's all downhill from here (The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD))

Member Name: george_lazenby

Product:	The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)
Date:	15/03/02 (240 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I can find no flaw

Disadvantages: You might well hate it

For those unhappy few of us who were left cold by the fluffy fairy-tale optimism of 'Amelie' comes the astringent antidote, another tale of a naïve outsider attempting to right wrongs in a bizarre, hyperreal world. But 'The Royal Tenenbaums' is not a jolly effects-enhanced adventure, sprinkled with magic. This is a tale of dysfunctional families, betrayal, loneliness, selfishness, vague hints of incest, and suicide. And it is one of the funniest, and maybe the best film I have seen in years.

Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) is old, lonely, and broke, and so he returns to the family he abandoned to see if he can put a roof over his head. Royal's three children were all child prodigies - Chas (Ben Stiller) was a business genius, adopted daughter Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) a playwright, and Richie (Luke Wilson) a tennis star. But Chas is a wreck after the death of his wife, Margot is blocked and locked in a loveless marriage with a lunatic neurologist (Bill Murray) and Richie's career has faltered, his mind clouded by the fact that he is in love with Margot. Just as Royal returns, pretending that he is dying, the children all flock home to mum Etheline (Anjelica Huston), who is at last getting over Royal, and working tentatively towards a romance with her accountant, Henry Sherman (Danny Glover).

From the opening shot (a book called 'The Royal Tenenbaums' being checked out of a library, and the start of the narration by Alec Baldwin), the film comes over like an animated story book. It's actually divided into chapters, and you see the page onscreen as Baldwin's voice starts to read each new section, and the film makes use of titles and freeze-frames to introduce characters and give background information. Apart from Royal, who says what he thinks all the time, all of the Tenenbaums are interior people, and it's only through the narration and the expressionist direction that you work out what's going on in th
eir minds.

The look of the film deliberately evokes a children's book - people wear stylized costumes (Chas is always dressed in a vivid red tracksuit, as are his two kids), and the colours are bright and bold. Moreover, the soundtrack is full of bright, excitable pop music from the sixties and seventies, and there is a good deal of old-fashioned slapstick.

But dark clouds hover over the film from the outset - Royal is selfish, self-obsessed and unintentionally very cruel. He casually throws aside his family, leaving three deeply damaged children, all of whom are incapable of normal, sane behaviour. Chas is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, obsessed with the idea that he and his children are at constant risk; Margot is completely unresponsive, conducting a string of meaningless affairs, and Richie is a complete zombie, totally uncommunicative and hiding himself behind a massive beard and sunglasses he never removes (when he finally emerges, it is with tragic consequences). Meanwhile Etheline, who has always attempted to put the kids first, seems finally on the verge of finding a little bit of happiness for herself when her errant husband and psycho kids descend on her once more.

And yet, at the same time, it's staggeringly funny. Royal's thick-skinned crassness is appallingly funny, and the film is full of deranged supporting characters (Murray, co-writer Owen Wilson as family friend, western writer and drugs fiend Eli) who constantly keep the laughs coming, even as the central characters seem to be falling apart. Even when events become genuinely tragic, the same comedy still comes through.

The cast is outstanding; Huston and Glover are effortless, and it's nice to see Gwyneth Paltrow in a part which does not require simpering or a hefty period frock. Stiller and Owen Wilson do pretty much their standard stuff (angry little man and stoned surfer respectively), but I think they're funny, so this works for me
. Three performances stand out - Bill Murray keeps all of his cynicism and smart-arsed persona inside to play a frustrated, pinched oddball, while Luke Wilson, who I have only seen playing Boyfriend to Cameron Diaz in 'Charlie's Angels' and Reese Witherspoon in 'Legally Blonde, is superb as Richie, crippled by his feelings for his adopted sister, and carrying with him an innocence which is palpable. Best of all is Gene Hackman, revelling in a part written for him (against his wishes); Royal is, as he admits, an asshole, selfish, self-serving and unbelievably rude. And yet, despite himself, he achieves almost total redemption, unaware of how much he actually loves a family he thinks he's trying to exploit. Hackman seems to have got the handle on this complex character completely, and his performance is genuinely hilarious and very moving.

Ultimately, some of the messages from 'The Royal Tenenbaums' are the same as 'Amelie' - people are fundamentally good, and you should always try to do right by other people - but the film is painfully aware of how fragile and helpless people can be. You know from the start how the characters feel about each other, but it takes them an age to speak up. Moreover, there is none of the usual emotional hand-holding and emphasis - one of the most important emotional climaxes comes when two characters have a cigarette together (and that's it). It's complex, vivid and very intelligent, and is the absolute antithesis of overblown Hollywood cinema.

I take no responsibility if you watch this film - it's distinctly odd, and you may very well find it too weird (four couples walked out of the free preview screening I attended). But if you connect with it, the rewards are limitless, it's a classic in the making.

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