The Royal Tenenbaums Reviews

Yawwwwwwwn

I rarely abandon films half way through and to my credit I stuck this one out. Time seemed to slow down. I began to despair ... 109 minutes have never passed so slowly. Please kill me, I thought. Wasn't funny. Really wasn't.

Brilliant film!

Don't be put off by the bad reviews, as this is one of my favourite films ever.

Intelligent, hilariously witty and subtle, and so full of black humour you're not sure whether you should laugh or be offended (I recommend the former).

An offbeat tale of a dysfunctional family with a father who can't seem to do anything right. Each scene is so meticulously constructed, it looks as though director Wes Anderson has slaved away for hours getting every set, every prop and every little detail perfected.

Brilliantly cast as well. A particularly deadpan Bill Murray as Raleigh St Clair is a stroke of genius.

Enjoyable, atypical and off the wall

Would have given the film 3.5 if half marks were available but instead it's got 4. Great performances from Gene Hackman and Luke Wilson. Don't expect your typical Ben Stiller or Owen Wilson characters though.

This is a relationship film about what is essentially a disfunctional, if very bright family that has fallen on hard times. The father Royal Tenenbaum decides to get back in touch with his family with the help of his son Richie after he learns his wife (who he's still technically married to) has had a marriage proposal. You are fed the background to the family, the relationships and characters are displayed initially and then cleverly stripped down as the film progresses to reveal their true identities.

This is not a laugh a minute roller coaster but a dark chuckle of a comedy that is very clever. I didn't think too much about the film after I saw it but I keep finding myself remembering bits of it and it has somehow crept under my skin.

There's some great scenes, often with apparently little going on but that say a lot. The first scene between Royal and Etheline is great, you really live all the emotions that both characters are going through.

The soundtrack is enjoyable too and really adds to the film.

If there's one criticism then it would be perhaps that the strong cast just slightly under delivers but I think the film is too subtle for everyone to shine. Most of the cast are playing very different characters from their normal roles. This threw me a little but you just have to lock away your preconceptions.

On the back of this film I'm going to check out Wes Anderson's other movies - Rushmore and Bottle Rocket.

A bit of an enigma

Although very original and quirky, I wasn't overly impressed with this film. The cast was pretty good but let down by the awkward and uninspiring script which failed to endear any of the characters to the viewer.

I was left feeling slightly bored and wondering whether the the past two hours of my life had been a bit of a waste of time.

I think "The Royal Tenenbaums" certainly had a lot of potential but for some reason the magic was missing.

[Highly rated reviewer]

A RIGHT ROYAL TURKEYBAUM

I usually try to be balanced and constructive in my reviews, however . . .WHAT AN ABSOLUTE CROCK! I grimly hung on for about twenty five minutes in the hope that it would take off. It didn't. Not a simgle laugh in it. How did they sell it to the (in some cases genuinely) stella cast?

a bit slow

Am afraid I found this so slow, if the story had gone along any slower the dvd would have come to a stop. When I saw this film in a movie trailer I was entranced by the stars that were in it. Unfortunately, the quantity and quality of stars in this film didn't save it. It simply didn't have enough of a story. The characters were not that likeable (I wanted to simply slap the Gwyneth Paltrow character). Also found the chapter headings interrupting the film very annoying.

Added Extras

Oops! I took this out thinking that this was the film plus extras. Look out for that error. Trailers were fun though.

Gene Hackman's general greatness

Two things; one, gene hackman has been around for bloody ages and has made some duff movies. This one isn't one of them, it's up there with Get Shorty as one of my favourite Hackman roles.

The other thing is how I use the stars for rating films, I hadn't really given it much thought, I mean, i've only got five stars, it's pretty easy to work out what to give a film, but i tend not to think about it too much and get carried away. This one deserves 5 stars. It's about how it makes me feel. Sure, the film takes you all over the place emotionally, but I genuinely cared about the Tenenbaums, all of them, even Buckley. There was an awful lot going on, and some people might feel a lot is squeezed in to the final frames, but I didn't care, it wrapped it up enough for me.

Could it be any worse

This is simply the worst movie i have ever seen!!!!

Loved it

A very engaging script yet not your typical Hollywood drama/comedy. It struck us as a little eccentric, yet this aspect of the film kept us captivated. The quality of the acting and the development of the characters is really the heart of the movie. The attention to visual detail is worth noticing and the subtle humour is a bonus. Well worth a viewing but not with your mates who love action flicks, more a movie for watching with your best friend who is an art house movie lover.