The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) Dir: Wes Anderson
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Wes Anderson is one of those directors that people either love or think is overrated - I often find myself somewhere in between. I knew going into this comedy, one of his earlier films, that it was considered to be among his best, but I didn't know much more than that, in truth.
There was still that familiarly symmetrical, atypical, style of Anderson, though there was also a little more conventional camerawork than his later films. In truth, I liked that about it. I think sometimes his more recent films can feel a little too polished - too symmetrical, if you like.
The story was quite different from the way I anticipated it to be. For one, I wasn't expecting it to get as dark as it did. Not that I disliked that about it; on the contrary, I enjoyed how frank and emotional some of the storytelling was. The way it explored a complicated family's life was intriguing, and I thought its execution was very enjoyable.
Gene Hackman gave an enjoyable leading performance, one which reminded me of Harvey Keitel, in some respects. He was cheeky and light, which offset the rest of the cast quite nicely. It was a pleasure to watch his character grow throughout the film.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Luke Wilson were by far my favourite performers here. Both of them expertly mixed the classic dry delivery of Anderson films with their own sincere blend of emotions, which made for some really quite poignant moments.
Anjelica Huston and Ben Stiller were the best of the rest, in my mind. Although, in truth, everyone in the incredibly talented cast was good. Also deserving of mentions were Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Danny Glover and Alec Baldwin.
Overall, I thought this was brilliant, but in a slightly more unrefined way than some of Anderson's other films. For all its silly eccentricities, it felt a lot more grounded than I was expecting - something that benefitted the film greatly. It was really quite wonderful, in a bittersweet way.
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