Clear Vision on a Cloudy Day

Just Watched: The Royal Tenenbaums

It’s not always easy to figure out why a dream goes sour, but for the former child prodigies/failed adults of the Tenenbaum family — financial wiz Chas (Ben Stiller), tennis god Richie (Luke Wilson), and adopted budding playwright Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) — the clear-cut reason why their lives hit a brick wall is obvious: father Royal (Gene Hackman), a man for whom the word scoundrel seems to have been expressly invented. Having had their childhood trust sullied by the affable con-man and compulsive liar, the grown children are predictably leery when their Dad suddenly shows up at his ex-wife’s (Angelica Huston) doorstep proclaiming imminent death from (not surprisingly fake) cancer.

The performances by the entire cast are noteworthy, especially Hackman and Luke Wilson. Wes Anderson lays out the story as a modern-day fable, with fancy chapter headings and a gruff-voiced narration from Alec Baldwin. Anderson’s films always have this strange degree of weirdness that is quite difficult to explain, at times. After watching this for the third time, I spotted a strange coincidence in a line which Margot says, if you know what I mean. Quite strange, that, like seriously. A great watch if you’re not in the mood for paying attention to what is going on around you.

Personal Rating: 8.5/10