Starring Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Angelica Huston, Danny Glover, Bill Murray, Jonah Myerson, Grant Rosenmeyer, Kumar Pallana Stephen Lea Sheppard. Written by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson. Directed by Wes Anderson. Royal Tenenbaum (Hackman) and his wife Etheline (Huston) had three children and then they separated after 10 years together. Chas (Ben Stiller) started buying real estate in his early youth and had a deep understanding of international finance. Margot (Paltrow) was a playwright and received a Braverman Grant of fifty thousand dollars in the ninth grade. Richie (Luke Wilson ) was a junior champion tennis player and won the U.S. Nationals three years in a row. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. Chas lost his wife in a plane accident a year ago. Margot married an older admirer Raleigh St. Clair (Murray) and hasn't written a play in seven years. Richie suddenly self-destructed on the tennis court, and quit the tennis tour. Through a series of events, each of the children return to the family home. Royal fakes that he is dying of cancer and persuades Etheline to allow him to return as well. This doesn't go over well with Chas, who has never forgiven his father after being involved in a series of litigations against one another, and doesn't thrill Henry Sherman (Glover), the family's accountant who has designs on Etheline. Will the Tenenbaums cope with their new found togetherness? Written by the same writers of Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums utilizes the same deadpan style and wealth of offbeat characters. Anderson and Wilson create their own unique universe with quirky inhabitants and dysfunctional relationships. The story itself is original and keeps running off into new, often unexpected directions. Anderson's world is an acquired taste, relying on the viewer to find the humour in the situations as they develop. I like Royal Tenenbaums more than Rushmore, but for me the deadpan style only works to a point. The problem is that there is little energy to the film with the majority of characters expressionless and emotionally dead. It is difficult to care about the characters as real people. There are a decent amount of funny moments, with the scenes of Royal and Chas's kids touring the city among the best. The performances are generally good, and a couple really stand out. Hackman is simply excellent as the manipulative, shameless father who has no problem using whatever story he can in conning wife or child to get his own way. He nails the selfishness and egocentricity of the character, although his sudden transformation of character at film's end is a bit forced. Paltrow, with her mascara-laden sad eyes, is the only one able to evoke any sympathy for her unhappy and directionless life, and supplies Margot with the most heart of any character. Glover also gives his character a bit of real humanity, starting with Sherman's heartfelt reference to his mother's cancer. The Royal Tenenbaums is an offbeat comedy that looks at the world and family life in its own unique way. If your tastes tend towards the unusual, The Royal Tenebaums could provide you with an enjoyable diversion. If you would like to respond, please click the E-Mail Press Here To Go To The Review List Page