Hey folks, Harry here... The evil bastard Capone has an amazing line-up of films he's seeing this week... Hopefully I'll get my car today so I can begin making my freaking press screenings. ACK! Damn evil car heart attacks!
Hey, Harry. Capone here. This is a busy week of previews. Later today (hopefully), I'll send you my OCEAN'S ELEVEN review; I'm seeing PORN STAR tonight; and tomorrow it's Robert Altmas's latest, GOSFORD PARK. Then, of course, this weekend, I'll lay a big fat kiss on your red head, you beautiful bastard. Here's ROYAL TENENBAUMS…
Apparently Gene Hackman, at 71, has decided that 2001 would be the year to show us he’s still got what it takes. Although he was probably just cashing a paycheck when he made BEHIND ENEMY LINES, his performances in HEIST and THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS have been among his most memorable. I was so ready to embrace TENENBAUMS as the second coming of great, quirky filmmaking, with Hackman as the shady father of three, Royal Tenenbaum.
We see Royal both today and about 30 years ago, as a completely out-of-touch lawyer who pushes his kids to greatness while his own life and marriage goes up in smoke. One son, Chas (Ben Stiller with a freaky borderline afro wig), is a financial genius. His wife recently died and he’s left to be completely overprotective of his two children (with matching wigs). The other son, Richie (Luke Wilson), was once a world-class tennis pro, who had a complete meltdown on the court during a championship match. Royal’s adopted daughter is Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow looking more sunken than ever) a depressive playwright married to a much older (and almost unrecognizable) Bill Murray. Hackman’s BEHIND ENEMY LINES co-star (and TENENBAUMS co-writer along with director Wes Anderson) Owen Wilson plays Eli Cash, the across the street neighbor of the Tenenbaums who always had a thing for Margot. The ever-perfect Anjelica Huston is Etheline, Royal’s estranged wife.
As the film opens, Royal decides he’d like to be close to his family again. They haven’t spoken to him in quite a while because, primarily because he’s a schmuck, so he decides the best way to have them come together to see him is to fake being terminally ill. Sounds funny so far, and don’t get me wrong, there are some truly funny things in TENENBAUM. What’s missing here is depth. What I liked so much about Anderson’s RUSHMORE and BOTTLE ROCKETS is the attention to character. There are so many great character here that we never get to focus on one long enough to care. Also, the plot kind of flounders most of the time. Behavior seems unmotivated, characters seem to be filled with eccentricities for their own sake. For example, Ben Stiller wears a red jogging suit through the whole film, except at a funeral, where he wears a black jogging suit. I guess that’s a little funny.
The relationship that kept me interested in this film is that between Royal and Etheline. Hackman and Huston and fantastic. Clearly they love each other, but their hatred is just as deep. Etheline’s decision to marry family friend Henry Sherman (Danny Glover) brings out a fiery racist streak in Royal that may change your feelings about his character. But to have this loveable loser suddenly spout slurs at someone may shock a laugh or two out of you also. But the really shocking stuff in TENENBAUMS is how meandering it seems. Sure the camerawork is top-notch and the soundtrack kicks serious butt, but that only gets you so far. The actors do the best they can with an underwritten script, but only Hackman and Huston really come to life. Anderson raised the bar with RUSHMORE and falls surprisingly short with THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS.
Capone (Send your comments and your taunts here Monkeyboy!)
