Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) by The A — 26 Jun 2015

The best of his first 3 films. The movie is shot in much more Anderson style than Rushmore is with his quick cuts, great attention to detail in every tight frame, and multiple angles and depth. The cast consists of some of my favorite actors (Gene Hackman, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow), and the performances are fantastic. A lot of information is divulged early and takes a little while to disseminate, but once you grasp each characters idiosyncrasies and motives, the film really gets into a flow. Gene Hackman pulls off the sleezy manipulator very convincingly, and the rest of the characters are very well constructed and portrayed. The narration, scene descriptions, and chapter breaks are all nice touches that add to the quirkiness, and the movie stays pretty even-keel throughout - even after Luke Wilson's big move - until the last 1/4. This film is certainly not as light-hearted as Moonrise Kingdom or even Bottle Rocket, but this film has deeper undertones and deals with more palatable personal issues (and personal discovery) than some of his other films. Very good film.

Grade = 8.5/10.