The The Royal Tenenbaums (2002)
Ah yes. Was a country still traumatized by 9-11 ready for this self-indulgent Wes Anderson movie? Would they ever be?
The premise seems borrowed from J.D. Salinger - a family of geniuses. Unlike Salinger’s Glass family, though, the psychological construct of “genius” seems to apply less to the Tenenbaums than the psychological constructs of “eccentricity’ and “mania.” Most of the actors seem to be a little self-conscious about their roles, every one of which seems like a star turn custom tailored just for them. The exception is poor Bill Murray, who probably thought at one time that Anderson would get him an Oscar someday. Here he takes on a repertory role and pares his palette to deadpan incredulity. Owen Wilson seems to be trying to channel Dennis Hopper with his get-up of cowboy hat, fringe vest, and oscillations between introversion and extraversion. Gwyneth Paltrow plays “aint’ I odd and pretty.” And so on. Ben Stiller gets to come in, too - patriarch Royal Tenenbaum explains to a priest at the end that the family is “half Jewish and half Mick Catholic.” The whole mess is narrated by Alex Baldwin, and it really takes narration to launch this thing - to the extent that it does finally get off the ground a bit.
Gene Hackman should have been given a lifetime achievement Oscar solely for making this movie bearable. The only other thing in its favor is that there are some gems of comic dialogue that - standing on their own - are damn good.
Salinger was told by a publisher that the idea of the Glass family of geniuses was too unrealistic for a novel, and a lesser ego, not capable of later turning into a semi-reclusive urine-drinking old crank, might have accepted that judgement. Here, it’s right in our face. Getting Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo to layer it with precious pop tunes a la “my favorite cool ones” makes the whole thing seem a little dated now, and someone was even presumptuous enough to slightly tweak the lyrics of “Hey Jude,” which I found both offensive and jarring. In a way, though, that’s the perfect illustration of why the movie doesn’t work. Royal Tenenbaums - in spite of what you think - you’re NOT all THAT, and it’s NOT all about you.