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Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) plays an incorrigible ass who'se tried to reenter the lives of the family he abandoned years ago by faking cancer. The children, played by Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow and Luke Wilson, were all child prodigies who are still pathologically starved for their father's approval. They all return home to their long suffering celibate mother Etheline (Anjelica Huston), who has recently found love in her accountant Henry (Danny Glover). Royal soon moves in and tries to take off where he left off decades ago. Alec Baldwin narrates the film as if reading a novel. It could easily be one by John Irving, what with all of the eccentricities and pathologies of the characters. Stiller, Paltrow and Wilson play a failed businessman whose wife has recently died, a playwright and tennis pro, respectively. Also in the picture is Eli Cash (Owen Wilson) a Tenenbaum wannabe who, though currently successful, suffers from a drug addiction. When they were children they acted like adults; now that they're adults they don't quite know where to turn. Like William H. Macy's character in Magnolia, what do you do when the glory days are long behind? Thrown together under one roof, Royal tries to make amends by driving them crazy. His urge to be a part of their life is somewhat inexplicable, and though they resist, they also open the doors just a bit. In one funny and poignant moment, Royal kidnaps Stiller's two overprotected sons and takes them on an outing that includes running in traffic, shoplifting and swimming. He also offers to take them all to the cemetery to visit their grandmother's grave, forgetting that Stiller's wife is also buried there. No one is particularly hateful or unlikable in this film, nor does anyone overpower the rest of the cast with his or her pathology. Instead there's lots of equilibrium to be found in their imbalances. Huston's Etheline plays an almost angelic figure that accepts everyone, faults and all. Paltrow is a delight to watch, her sullenness rising like steam as she bathes people in her indifference while secretly begging for attention. Stiller, who twitches and trembles with angst better than anyone onscreen today, has captured that quality of uneasiness that everyone feels in the presence of someone both hated and admired. As patriarch, Royal cannot be blamed for everyone's imperfections nor can all of the Tenenbaum family unfulfillment be the result of his actions. After all, he was gone a long time. But the strength of this film is how everyone strings together their moments of disappointment without trying to deny how painful they are. By making this movie funny, their thwarted hopes are more palatable. The only criticism is that with so many characters, the jumps back and forth were sometimes choppy. With a regal cast of misfits, The Royal Tenenbaums is a treat.
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