The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

...others just don't get what the hype is all about. I had asked around which of his movies was the best, to get me introduced to his movies and the one title that I kept hearing from friends and online was The Royal Tenenbaums. I had heard that it did get critical acclaim, being nominated for an Oscar in the category of 'Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen' in 2002 (it was also nominated for and won other awards, see:- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265666/awards ...
...seen the movie before, I knew I was intrigued to give it a shot and see what I'd think, also knowing that, like his other movies turn out to be, its a pretty dark comedy, I was a bit wary that I might not really enjoy it because I'm not that big a fan of really dark comedy in general. Anyway I managed to get a second hand copy of the 2 disc collectors edition DVD set some months back and I first watched it back then but I was left feeling a bit confused ...

IzzyS 06.01.2008 (07.01.2008) · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

...you just love it when the words flow out of you, effortlessly forming together, raging onward to a sure and certain sentence like a stream blossoming into a river before plunging with the waterfall into a lagoon of loquaciousness? Well, if that ever happens to me, I’ll let you know. Meanwhile, on with the op…! After our manic McQueen-like motoring manoeuvres (as detailed in Part One, my Rock op) Anne and I had just enough time to grab ...
...settle in our seats as the movie started. It all starts out quite charmingly and quirkily. The whole thing is done like a book with chapter headings and part of the voiceover text on screen as each scene segues into live action. We are introduced to the titular character of Royal Tenenbaum, played by the great Gene Hackman. He is shown to be a poor husband and reluctant father and we quickly realise we are in dysfunctional family mode. And what ...

Crazy-Christian 25.05.2002 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

...found it very enjoyable. The film tells the story of the Tenenbaum family, the head of which is Royal Tenenbaum, plyed by Gene Hackman. I say he's the head of the family, but he actually walked out on them when they were all growing up and hasn't seen them for many years. The film shows what happens, when this now very dysfunctional family, get back together again. What made this film enjoyable for me was the wild array of quirky characters and ...
...penniless which is one of the resons he wants to get back with his family. The mother, Etheline, is played by Angelica Houston who has eventually found love with a colleague, Henry Sherman (Danny Glover). The three children are all now grown up but in thir childhood, they were all prodogies - Chas was an entrepreneur, Margot (Gwynneth Paltrow) wrote plays and Richie (Luke Wilson) was a tennis star. Years later it had all gone wrong for them all ...

kingfisher111 12.04.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

...dysfunctional families seem to catch the public’s eye. I don’t know if you would call this family dysfunctional, or unemotional, or what. Gene Hackman, who is an excellent actor, portrays ROYAL TENENBAUM, father of two sons and one adopted daughter (the fact that she is adopted seems to be important to the plot of the movie). He is estranged from his wife, Etheline, portrayed by Angelica Huston. ROYAL is a bit of a con-artist and flake. ...
...do with his family during the 22 years away, but since he has no place to live, he decides to tell his wife that he is dying in hopes of being able to move back into the house. Meanwhile, it seems that for one reason or another, the three siblings are also back living in the house. He has also decided that he wants a relationship with his children and grandchildren, and with the help of the houseman, proceeds to “pull the wool over their eyes”, ...

CanadasCousin 23.03.2002 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

...comic, tragic and dramatic possibilities: The Tenenbaums are a rich and eccentric family of geniuses who have fallen upon hard times and become estranged, until the father (Hackman) sees the light and attempts to reunite the family and make amends for his many shortcomings, the consequences of which have been visited upon his children. What can go wrong? The movie kicks off very promisingly. It takes the form of book chapters, each of which are ...
...(Hackman) and Etheline (Houston) are the parents of child geniuses Chas (Stiller), who breeds dalmation rats and trades on the stock market, becoming a millionaire before his teens, Richie (Luke Wilson), a tennis prodigy, and the adopted Margot (Paltrow), a playwright who wins a huge national award whilst barely out of nappies. Hanging around on the periphery are next door neighbour Eli (Owen Wilson) and Royal's conniving but devoted manservant. ...

sandrabarber 29.09.2002 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

...(www.lotr.ca, July 18th story) The Cast: --------- Gene Hackman - Royal Tenenbaum Anjelica Huston - Etheline Tenenbaum Ben Stiller - Chas Tenenbaum Luke Wilson - Richie Tenenbaum Gwyneth Paltrow - Margot Tenenbaum Owen Wilson - Eli Cash Danny Glover - Henry Sherman Bill Murray - Raleigh St Claire Alec Baldwin - Narrator Plot Summary: ------------- At the start of the movie, we get a brief summary on how the three children (Chas, Richie, ...
...Royal gets booted out of the 5 star hotel that he has been living in for 7 years, and has no place else to go. He feigns a terminal illness, and convinces his estranged wife (Etheline) to take him back and let him live with her. The entire family comes together for the first time in years, and Royal tries to force his way back into the lives of everyone. What follows is a self-discovery movie about how much family means, and how important loved ...

azeltroth 18.07.2002 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

...I was looking forward to the release of 'The Royal Tenenbaums' - it seemed to have a good cast and it looked amusing. A nice movie....well that was what I was expecting. I couldn't have been further from the truth. Half an hour into the film I was already wishing I hadn't bothered with this it but thought to myself 'no no, it can't be that bad. I'm sure it'll pick up...it's just slow to start off with. Can't be this bad with all these good actors/actresses ...
...got up and left throughout the duration of the movie. So what was so bad about it? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The story was rubbish. There was no point to this film whatsoever. It seemed like a variation to The Adams Family, but with less of a storyline. Considering there were quite a few well known people in it (Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Danny Glover, Bill Murray and more familiar names) I was definitely expecting something ...

Deenie 12.04.2002 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

...film confirms once again that the most significant older female actor of the era is Anjelica Houston. More on her later, but to precis this review - its a very good film that falls short of being great. If you liked Wes Anderson's previous outing, 1988's Rushmore, then you'll want to see this. If it takes a barrel-load of fart gags, stereotypical plotlines or an FX budget to light your fire this film is not for you and neither is this review, so ...
...developed rather lost his way). The fictional equivalent would be Garp era John Irving or the work of T. Coraghessan Boyle - strange, quirky characters in an all too familiar world. The world of this film is that revolving around Royal Tenenbaum, the patriach of a family graced with three child prodigies who burnt out in early adulthood. By the time of their early-life crises, Tenenbaum has flown the roost (kicked out for marital infidelity) and ...

oedipus 07.04.2002 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

...do not understand what all the praise is about. I wanted to like this film and from the preview and reviews I had read it seemed like the sort of film I would like but after only about 10 minutes of watching it I was finding it unbearable. I persevered but eventually gave up before the end as it was seriously wasting my time. I would point out that I cannot remember giving up on a film like this before. So what was wrong with it? On first inspection ...
...to attempt to return to the family home after he runs out of money. However, the possibilities of the plot were overshadowed by the ridculousness of the situations. From the beginning we were presented with totally unbelievable plot lines presented with a deadpan seriousness. It seemed to be trying to engender some empathy with the characters problems but I find it difficult to engage any real human feeling for a person breeding Dalmation mice. It ...

buzios 22.01.2003 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

My goodness! I watched The Royal Tenenbaums on video (again) last night when I got in from work. I thought to myself 'I must pop on ciao tomorrow to tell everyone just how good this film is'. So I looked up the film, and I'm stunned! So many negative reviews. I feel it is my duty to respond. The Royal Tenenbaums is Wes Anderson's follow up to the critically acclaimed 'Rushmore' and his third collaboration with writing partner Owen Wilson. It is ...
...of disasters and emotional upheavals the adult Tenenbaum children are now shadows of their former glories. As a result of their failures and neuroses Chas and Margot have ended up back in the family home whilst Richie has spent three years sailing the world. A large factor in this decline is their wayward father Royal (the magnificent Gene Hackman) who was kicked out of their family home by it's matriarch Etheline (Anjelica Houston). Royal hasn't ...

Zoe 13.11.2003 (15.11.2003) · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

Wes Anderson’s follow up to the well-received Rushmore has arrived to widespread critical acclaim. Pundits seem to be falling all over themselves to say how much they love it, and if you believe everything you read then you’ll conclude that The Royal Tenenbaums is a work of unparalleled genius which signals the arrival of the hottest new directorial talent since the Coen Brothers. Unfortunately this isn’t strictly true. It’s something of a mixed ...
...recipe for cult success. The film concerns an estranged and penniless dad, Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) and his attempts to re-integrate himself into the lives of his supremely dysfunctional family, who, with the exception of failed Tennis pro Richie (Luke Wilson) feel nothing for him other than absolute contempt. Chas (Ben Stiller) is the recently bereaved widower who despises Royal for reasons too numerous to mention, Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) ...

maxshreck 22.03.2002 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

...Stiller and Gene Hackman, tells the story of a dysfunctional family, the Tenenbaums. Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) and his wife Etheline (Angelica Huston) had three child prodigies before they separated - Chas (Ben Stiller) an estate trader in his early teens, Richie (Luke Wilson) a champion tennis player and the adopted Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) who writes successful plays at the age of 11. The action then fast forwards 22 years into the future: ...
...really bored with her life. The tactless father, Royal (Gene Hackman) is blamed for the family's failures. One day, Royal tells his ex-wife that he has stomach cancer and is going to die and that his last wish would be to be reunited with his family. And then we see him eating burgers on his sick bed, and looking strangely healthy for a sick man. Is he telling the truth or not? We then learn, in a strange romantic development, that Richie is secretly ...

lulucyole 30.03.2006 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

...Each week I'd look in the top ten and the new releases, this is where I came across the films "The Royal Tenenbaums." I was sure this comedy film would keep me entertained on a Saturday night as I was in need of a good laugh. Also I was impressed with it's star studded line up including Gene Hackman, Anjelica Houston, Danny Glover, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Bill Murray. O...how wrong could I be?! This was possibly one of the ...
...blockbuster? O dear god No! The director of this film must have been a manic-depressive. One friend of mine stopped watching half way through while me and another friend sat it out, waiting for it to burst into life. A slow start was acceptable, as many films don't get a going for a while. But his film just never got going! It is a depressive tale about the weirdest family ever! Just totally freaky! Perhaps if you’re into the totally strange and ...

Fizz_g 08.12.2002 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

The Review - As with all of Wes Anderson's films The Royal Tenenbaums is a genuine love it or hate it film. The off beat humour and sense of bizarre will be loved by Anderson lovers, the fantastic cast, the smart screenplay and the tragi-comedy style is sure to entertain fans of Rushmore. Yet those looking for a slap stick comedy should look away because this isn't the film for you. Much of the comedy comes from the films wonderful one liners or ...
...dressing his two sons in the same red tracksuit that he wears. The film isn't the normal run of the mill comedy, these characters are brought to life by the brilliant ensemble cast and in the slower moments of the film there some heart breaking scenes that remind the viewer that this is one of the cleverest comedies in recent years. ...

narutogoku 11.08.2007 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)

...a great cast list and the trailor looked great. However, sadly the film was terrible. I sat through the first hour waiting for something amusing to happen or for the film to get better but it just didn't happen. I was close to walking out on more than one occasion but a kind of morbid fascination kept me there waiting to see if it could get any worse. It did. The acting was bad, the plotline was missing presumed dead and the humour was more depressing ...

Julie.Bond 24.03.2002 · Read full review
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Review of The Royal Tenenbaums (DVD)