Rating: R
Genre:
Comedy Drama
Release Date: 07/09/2002
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1/DD2/DTS
Run Time: 110 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Walt Disney Video
Director
Wes Anderson and his longtime friend and writing partner
Owen Wilson follow up
Bottle Rocket (1996) and
Rushmore (1998) with this similarly offbeat
comedy about a dysfunctional family reunion.
Royal Tenenbaum (
Gene Hackman) was a successful attorney who had three children with his wife
Etheline (
Anjelica Huston), an archaeologist. Each of the
Tenenbaum kids was a precocious genius:
Chas (
Ben Stiller) made a killing as a child investor.
Richie (
Luke Wilson) was a junior tennis champ and three-time U.S. Nationals winner. The adopted
Margot (
Gwyneth Paltrow) was a playwright who won a 50,000-dollar Braverman Grant in the ninth grade. When
Royal abruptly left his family, however, it was the beginning of two decades of betrayal and failure that would scar the
Tenenbaums for life. Their past resentments are bitterly held against
Royal when he suddenly reappears, claiming to have six weeks to live and a desire to reconnect with his family. Typically,
Royal's story is a sham, but his presence and sincere desire for absolution soon have a profound effect on the
Tenenbaums, who are each dealing with thwarted desires and relationships. Among them are
Richie's lifelong love for
Margot, who's unhappily married to
Raleigh St.Clair (
Bill Murray) and
Etheline's eccentric engagement to
Henry Sherman (
Danny Glover), who wishes to marry her.
The Royal Tenenbaums also co-stars
Owen Wilson and features narration provided by
Alec Baldwin.
~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
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