Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1156 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-12-02
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Dutch
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 108 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Wes Anderson's satirical yet tender tragicomedy The Royal Tenenbaums is a defiantly offbeat movie, but its sheer originality makes it a winner. As Philip Larkin famously said, "They fuck you up, your mum and dad". Well, it's Dad, the opulently named Royal Tenenbaum himself (Gene Hackman in twinkly mode), who gets all the blame here. The precocious achievements of the Tenenbaum offspring are amusingly documented: teen tycoon Chas (a perpetually snarly Ben Stiller), tennis star Richie (Luke Wilson, alienation personified in his Björn Borg get-up) and Margot--adopted and never allowed to forget it--a prize-winning playwright by ninth grade (Gwyneth Paltrow lurking under a ton of eyeliner and a sulky pout). Then there's Eli Cash (Owen Wilson), the kid from over the road who always wanted to be a Tenenbaum and nowadays makes his living writing trashy but successful Westerns.

After two decades of going their own way, to unfailingly disastrous effect, the Tenenbaums find themselves reunited in their old house, as idiosyncratic and illogical a place as the family itself, with Etheline Tenenbaum (touchingly played by Anjelica Huston) about to marry her accountant, Henry Sherman (Danny Glover). The action loops forward and backward, with the background detail on each character beautifully rounded out by narrator Alec Baldwin. This, and the device of dividing the film into chapters, gives it the feel of a fairy story, and like the best in the genre, it has a satisfying, if not entirely happy, resolution.

On the DVD: The Royal Tenenbaums comes with extra features that really do add to the enjoyment of the film. These range from the whimsical (a gallery of all the fictitious book and magazine covers that involve the Tenenbaum family and a slide show of behind-the-scenes photos by set-photographer James Hamilton) to the enlightening (a 26-minute film about writer/director Wes Anderson, his ideas behind the movie and an insight into his way of working, which is illuminating particularly for the sheer detail of his vision--if he's a control freak, he comes across as a nice control freak). There are also brief interviews with the main players, excerpts from Anderson's annotated script pages and background details on the artwork that appears in the film by Miguel Calderon and Eric Chase Anderson (brother of Wes). Less than two minutes of deleted scenes is hardly exciting, though the offbeat humour of the "Peter Bradley Show" is a distinct plus. --Harriet Smith

Special Features
Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic
Dolby Digital 5.1
Soundtrack languages: English, French, Italian
Subtitles: French, English, Italian, French, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish
Outtakes
Theatrical trailers
Audio commentary by director Wes Anderson
"With the Filmmaker" portraits by Albert Maysles
Exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes footage
"The Peter Bradley Show" featuring interviews with additional cast members
"The Art of the Movie" still photographs, murals and paintings, a book and magazine covers
Collectable insert including Eric Anderson's drawings

Synopsis
In their youth, the Tenenbaums--an eccentric New York family--were extraordinary. They were all geniuses. Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) was a successful litigator. His wife Etheline (Angelica Huston) raised their children to be ambitious, entrepreneurial, and creative--then published an acclaimed book about her child-rearing techniques. Adopted daughter Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) was a gifted playwright. Son Chas (Ben Stiller) was a masterful businessman with a taste for real estate. And the other son, Richie (Luke Wilson), was a natural tennis champ. However, when Royal packed up his life and left his wife and his family in a cloud of betrayal, everything fell apart. Twenty years later, the Tenenbaums are a dejected and alienated bunch, each having found that their early successes did not carry over into adulthood. When washed-up Royal learns that his distant wife Etheline, who has become an archaeologist, may remarry, he feigns illness as an excuse to reunite with his estranged family.
From Wes Anderson, director of RUSHMORE, this film is full of quirky comedy that will have audiences reeling and reflecting simultaneously. The brilliant script is impeccable with choppy, intentionally awkward language delivered with dry wit by the well-appointed (almost too good to be true) cast. Dramatic sets are emphasized by the film's masterful orchestration of scene changes and chapter separations. The photography beautifully captures a faded, vintage 1980s New York. And the eclectic soundtrack features much-loved tunes by Nico, The Velvet Underground, The Clash, and the Vince Guaraldi Trio.

Customer Reviews

A Moving Painting Motion Picture
I first saw this film as a sixteen year old on a family outing to the cinema not having heard of Anderson or the film itself. Family outings not being a regular thing at all for me it is extremely coincidental/fortunate/fateful that we should have seen together that night what I now regard as the most moving and funniest films about family relationships I have ever seen (On a par with the Sopranos for me).

From the opening scenes with an instrumental Hey Jude the film put a smile on my face introducing the delightful unashamedly quirky characters.
The ensemble cast really shines with no one actor trying to steal the show. The attention to detail Anderson shows is immense from costumes to locations (the main house in the film is an actual house redecorated and designed to Anderson's vision) to multiple two second shots (such as Buckley the dog in a cage in the aftermath of a plane crash).

I have friends who don't like this movie and I really can't understand why not. The humour may not be everyone's cup of tea. Arrested Development was hugely influenced by this movie and this is also a huge crowd splitter. I am of the general belief that if you really love something and most people don't get it or like it, then you are right, it is great. Maybe you need an understanding or experience of depression, divorce, rejection, suicide, unrequited love, acceptance, loss, jealousy, regret to relate to the characters but who hasn't experienced some if not all of these things.

Generally if you're a "deep thinker" you will love this film.
Buy it now.

Disappointing .
As another reviewer has put it " A Marmite Movie " . I didn't like it , and failed to see what all the fuss was about . I tried on a number of occasions to watch it , but each time found myself reaching for the off button . With the quality of acting talent in this film , it should have been so much better than it was .

Some love it, but it's not for me
A fantastic cast with a great quirky set up - I was expecting a lot from this Wes Anderson / Owen Wilson film. But by the end of the film I realised that I didn't really care about any of the characters.

It's a shame as this film showed lot of promise, and there were some great scenes (Gene Hackman as Royal showing his grandkids how to be reckless was brilliant). Each character in he film had their own story unraveled, but the characters themselves weren't developed enough for me to take any great interest in them. Even Richie Tenenbaum who tries to take his own life seemed drab.

Thankfully this film has found it's audience though, and many people love it - but I guess I'm one of those for whom this film does nothing.