Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson
Photography: Robert D. Yeoman
Music: Mark Mothersbaugh, Wes Anderson K-tel Collection
Editor: Dylan Tichenor
Cast: Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Danny Glover, Bill Murray, Seymour Cassel, Kumar Pallana, Alec Baldwin
I knew the earlier films Bottle Rocket and Rushmore by director and cowriter Wes Anderson when I first saw The Royal Tenenbaums. I liked Bottle Rocket more than Rushmore but I knew people who were nutty for Rushmore and the soundtrack was notably good so I had nothing in particular against Anderson. But I had a bad reaction on this one—The Royal Tenenbaums hit me as precious and ironic to a fault, with a pointlessly colorful palette and other empty ornate flourishes, way too many trendy stars in the cast, and a ludicrous story about selfishness and redemption in a dysfunctional family I just couldn't buy—any of it. It has since colored my whole attitude toward Anderson pictures. Basically I like only his animated stuff (Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs) although under peer pressure I've ended up checking in with most of the rest.
Seeing The Royal Tenenbaums again finally for a second time and braced for the worst, I thought it was more deftly entertaining than I recalled. I wouldn't say it's motivating me to go back and revisit the catalog, but I am a little more willing to consider it. Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) is a New Yorker, a terrible father, and not much of a businessman either—your basic rat. Now he seems to want to make amends with his unusually brilliant family of prodigies: ex-wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston), sons Chas (Ben Stiller) and Richie (Luke Wilson), adopted daughter Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), and all their various friends and hangers-on (Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Danny Glover, etc.). It's not an ensemble piece so much as everybody, in their colorful outfits, gets a turn being the main also-ran of passing interest.
I knew the earlier films Bottle Rocket and Rushmore by director and cowriter Wes Anderson when I first saw The Royal Tenenbaums. I liked Bottle Rocket more than Rushmore but I knew people who were nutty for Rushmore and the soundtrack was notably good so I had nothing in particular against Anderson. But I had a bad reaction on this one—The Royal Tenenbaums hit me as precious and ironic to a fault, with a pointlessly colorful palette and other empty ornate flourishes, way too many trendy stars in the cast, and a ludicrous story about selfishness and redemption in a dysfunctional family I just couldn't buy—any of it. It has since colored my whole attitude toward Anderson pictures. Basically I like only his animated stuff (Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs) although under peer pressure I've ended up checking in with most of the rest.
Seeing The Royal Tenenbaums again finally for a second time and braced for the worst, I thought it was more deftly entertaining than I recalled. I wouldn't say it's motivating me to go back and revisit the catalog, but I am a little more willing to consider it. Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) is a New Yorker, a terrible father, and not much of a businessman either—your basic rat. Now he seems to want to make amends with his unusually brilliant family of prodigies: ex-wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston), sons Chas (Ben Stiller) and Richie (Luke Wilson), adopted daughter Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), and all their various friends and hangers-on (Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Danny Glover, etc.). It's not an ensemble piece so much as everybody, in their colorful outfits, gets a turn being the main also-ran of passing interest.
The Tenenbaums are something like J.D. Salinger's Glass family, although that could be a matter of the Manhattan setting and the high talent on hand. Chas is a brilliant mathematician who invented a dalmatian rodent for reasons unclear. He is presently trying to get over the death of his wife by wearing matching tracksuits with his two sons. Richie is a former championship tennis pro ("Baumer"). Margot writes award-winning off-Broadway existential theater pieces. It's a dysfunctional family or more properly it's a big show of a dysfunctional family. Royal can never accept Margot as anything but adopted, for example, always introducing her that way. When Richie and Margot admit they have always been in love with one another the rest of the family, even Royal, even we the viewers to some extent, take it as a sort of distasteful incest. It doesn't feel like a healthy relationship because very little here feels healthy, but they enjoy listening to Between the Buttons on the stereo together.
The Royal Tenenbaums tries very hard to have it both ways—as a comedy of foolish brainy buffoons along with the pathos of aching family love unrequited. That might have been what bothered me most the first time. It was still extremely annoying the second—this family is not endearing, they are repulsive when they are even believable. Still, I admit in the end Royal's implausible redemption was somehow affecting, although at the same time I felt played by Anderson and troupe. There is a knowingness to this movie that never goes away or lets these characters emerge as anything but in-jokes, variations on neurotic types. At least it always generously includes us in on the joke, inviting us to laugh loudly at their foibles and see little of ourselves in them.
The Royal Tenenbaums is never greater than the sum of its parts but some of those parts are worth considering and admiring in isolation. Gene Hackman is excellent, as he is so often—very few players have operated so consistently across a long career, with such range, creating so many memorable characters. Anjelika Huston is subdued yet solid. Ben Stiller is more hit and miss—my favorite with him were the tracksuit costume and the games closet. I always like Luke Wilson—not sure why but I do. On the other hand, sad to say, I rarely like Owen Wilson for some reason, not that I want to be starting any family fractures. Gwyneth Paltrow looks undernourished but it works.
Bill Murray as Margot's husband Raleigh St. Clair (typically overdone character name, another general problem here) is unusually sedate, underplaying to a point where he seems almost drugged. It reminded me that Murray's appeal, which can be quite large, is more based on his presence or something about his manner, aloof, above it all, and comically judging, even if he needs a shave. It's easy to see here that he's not a very good actor. Compare Danny Glover, who is similarly subdued as Etheline's prospect for a second husband, the family accountant Henry Sherman. Glover's low energy feels more like Henry Sherman, the character Glover has created, whereas Murray feels merely self-conscious.
The production design in the movie is lovely. The soundtrack is not just good but memorably excellent, with pinpoint-perfect songs for their situations: Vince Guaraldi's Christmas chestnuts, Nico, Emmitt Rhodes, Erik Satie, Paul Simon, Elliott Smith, a very loud and rousing "Judy Is a Punk," Rolling Stones ca. 1967, Nick Drake, the Velvet Underground's "Stephanie Says," and more, finishing on a high point of "Everyone" by Van Morrison (who is now unfortunately a COVID moron, I feel it must be said). Really The Royal Tenenbaums is a clinic in soundtrack manufacture and other small-bore wins. As for the big picture, however, I think it's unfortunately still kind of a pretentious loser.
The Royal Tenenbaums tries very hard to have it both ways—as a comedy of foolish brainy buffoons along with the pathos of aching family love unrequited. That might have been what bothered me most the first time. It was still extremely annoying the second—this family is not endearing, they are repulsive when they are even believable. Still, I admit in the end Royal's implausible redemption was somehow affecting, although at the same time I felt played by Anderson and troupe. There is a knowingness to this movie that never goes away or lets these characters emerge as anything but in-jokes, variations on neurotic types. At least it always generously includes us in on the joke, inviting us to laugh loudly at their foibles and see little of ourselves in them.
The Royal Tenenbaums is never greater than the sum of its parts but some of those parts are worth considering and admiring in isolation. Gene Hackman is excellent, as he is so often—very few players have operated so consistently across a long career, with such range, creating so many memorable characters. Anjelika Huston is subdued yet solid. Ben Stiller is more hit and miss—my favorite with him were the tracksuit costume and the games closet. I always like Luke Wilson—not sure why but I do. On the other hand, sad to say, I rarely like Owen Wilson for some reason, not that I want to be starting any family fractures. Gwyneth Paltrow looks undernourished but it works.
Bill Murray as Margot's husband Raleigh St. Clair (typically overdone character name, another general problem here) is unusually sedate, underplaying to a point where he seems almost drugged. It reminded me that Murray's appeal, which can be quite large, is more based on his presence or something about his manner, aloof, above it all, and comically judging, even if he needs a shave. It's easy to see here that he's not a very good actor. Compare Danny Glover, who is similarly subdued as Etheline's prospect for a second husband, the family accountant Henry Sherman. Glover's low energy feels more like Henry Sherman, the character Glover has created, whereas Murray feels merely self-conscious.
The production design in the movie is lovely. The soundtrack is not just good but memorably excellent, with pinpoint-perfect songs for their situations: Vince Guaraldi's Christmas chestnuts, Nico, Emmitt Rhodes, Erik Satie, Paul Simon, Elliott Smith, a very loud and rousing "Judy Is a Punk," Rolling Stones ca. 1967, Nick Drake, the Velvet Underground's "Stephanie Says," and more, finishing on a high point of "Everyone" by Van Morrison (who is now unfortunately a COVID moron, I feel it must be said). Really The Royal Tenenbaums is a clinic in soundtrack manufacture and other small-bore wins. As for the big picture, however, I think it's unfortunately still kind of a pretentious loser.
The best pop soundtrack movie director ever? I only really know his first five. Curiously, Mark Mothersbaugh produced the first four: did he have any hand in choosing all those lost'60s and '70s golden oldies? Notably, the Kinks and Stones appear as well on the non-MM Darjeeling Limited (as does a bunch of Satyajit Ray's staggeringly brilliant soundtrack music). At any rate, and at the very least, if Anderson's first five soundtracks didn't trigger a run on the Kinks back catalog and a Amerindie Kinks revival they certainly should have. Right up my rock snob alley. And RT is still probably my fave. Otherwise, I think I share your ambivalence. His formula got old: geekish romantic loser fables set to his obsessively fussy visual designs. But, yeah, I also liked Ilse of Dogs. Maybe his visual fetishizing strengths might work better in cartoon animation, not that there's anything wrong with that!
ReplyDeleteI would not call Wes Anderson the best pop soundtrack movie director ever, though he's pretty good at it. His bent for the twee drags everything down, including the Kinks and the Stones. Plus I'm conservative or whatever enough to put Scorsese well ahead of all comers. Tarantino is generally better than Anderson too.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was probably overly impressed by how many Anderson soundtracks I actually own. I do think Tarantino's mixes were more varied and full of more surprises; I own three of his. And I loved the Goodfellas soundtrack. And Boogie Nights was a good one, too. But beyond those I'm going only on my shaky memory, never very reliable. I do remember, tho, Peter Biskind claims Easy Rider was the first pop soundtrack. Anyway, It'd be fun genre to try to corral and survey.
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