Having
seen trailers for The Royal Tenenbaums I was unsure as to
what to expect. Even the title of the film is rather obscure.
And that all-star cast?
Going
by Wes Anderson's 1998 movie, Rushmore, it must surely be
something a bit different, right?
Based
on the Tenanbaum family, the film begins with a quick back
round introduction of each family member. Head of the clan
is father Royal (Hackman), a wheeler-dealer type who anyone
would find difficult to trust. Etheline (Huston) is the
hard working and permanently exhausted looking mother. They
have three highly gifted children - Chas (Stiller), a property
and finance whiz, Richie (Owen Wilson) a tennis champion
who won the U.S. Nationals three years in a row and Margot
(Paltrow) a playwright who received a fifty thousand dollar
grant in the ninth grade.
Royal and Etheline separated and as a result the whole family
was divided. All memories of the brilliant Tenanbaum children
are forgotten and each one of them embark on their own path
of self-discovery and lose touch with one another.
Incidentally, this was considered to be their father's fault.
Alec
Balwin narrates this account of family history to us and
the remainder of the film is told in a chapter by chapter
book form. Confused? You won't be - it all works very well.
Once
everyone is up to speed on the family history, we continue.
Realising that he is broke, Royal Tenanbaum hatches a plan
to reunite with his family. Claiming that he is at deaths
door, he succeeds in bringing them all together. Of course
things don't go quite as he planned and each member of the
family have their own individual mini-traumas to deal with.
To
describe the Tenanbaums as dysfunctional is an understatement.
Ensconced in their New York mansion, they all seem to be
madder than March hares. Their preferred taxi company is
the Gypsy Cab Co. with it's beaten up cars. The way some
of them dress is bizarre - Dame Barbara Cartland would have
loved their penchant for pastel pinks! Each character has
a 'uniform' of sort which identifies them as individual.
Essentially there is no central character in this film,
each one is larger than life and thus played by a well-known
actor. Hackman is suited to the role of family head, nobody
can balk orders like he can. The normally good-natured Paltrow
gives a refreshing performance as Margot, the chain-smoking
rebel. Bill Murray is ever funny as Margot's dead pan husband,
Raleigh St. Clair.
Steeped
in black humour, ala Rushmore, The Royal Tenanbaums is a
truly offbeat comedy. As funny and odd as it is, the story
remains focused and doesn't stray.
As
for the general theme, well, you decide - family values;
take a chance; live and let live.
Verdict:
(3 stars out of 5) Wayne Cronin.
The
Royal Tenanbaums is on general release from Friday 15th
March 2002.
Cert:15 Running Time: 110 mins
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