THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS

A flamboyantly undisciplined New York family can't get its act together--and probably wouldn't even if it could.

(Now in stores)

CAST: Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Danny Glover, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray

DIRECTOR: Wes Anderson


"The seductive, glamorous, and exquisitely fragile Glass family of J.D. Salinger's invention might well live down the street from the fairy-tale clan that represents the soul of a fragile but bountiful New York City in Wes Anderson's shimmering new picture 'The Royal Tenenbaums'... a filmmaker whose storytelling style is so fresh, so happily idiosyncratic, and so all-encompassing that it stirs up strong response from people who either love or don't love his stuff. But Anderson never demands love or attention, never demeans, never makes fun of his dollhouse family even when being funny about their extremis." --Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

"Wes Anderson, who co-wrote the script with Owen Wilson and directed it, is the cinematic equivalent of a window dresser at Barneys: Everything and everyone on display in his frame is posed, mannequinlike, for instant absorption; every square inch of space is crammed with conceptual doodads. It's not just that Anderson doesn't let anything breathe; it's not clear that there was ever breath to begin with...Anderson is something of a prodigy...he's riddled with talent, but he hasn't figured out how to be askew and heartfelt at the same time. When he does, he'll probably make the movie 'The Royal Tenenbaums' was meant to be, and it'll be a sight to see." --Peter Rainer, New York

"The actors are asked to convey real and complex human emotions, but the characters are paper dolls...The only one who bursts off the page into three dimensions is Royal. Everyone else has defining tics, but Mr. Hackman is an actor of such explosive inventiveness that no mannerisms can contain him....Mr. Hackman has the amazing ability to register belligerence, tenderness, confusion and guile within the space of a few lines of dialogue. You never know where he's going, but it always turns out to be exactly the right place. His quick precision and deep seriousness nearly rescue this movie from its own whimsy." --A.O. Scott, The New York times

"'The Royal Tenenbaums' exists on a knife edge between comedy and sadness. There are big laughs, and then quiet moments when we're touched...The film doesn't want us to feel just one set of emotions...It's like a guy who seems to be putting you on, and then suddenly reveals himself as sincere, so you're stranded out there with an inappropriate smirk...'The Royal Tenenbaums' is at heart profoundly silly, and loving." --Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"Anderson's so obsessed with the details--the murals on the walls, the books that line the shelves, the board games that fill a closet, the fonts on a hospital's doors--that he somehow misses the big picture: These characters, archetypes all, never come to life, never engage us, never make us feel. We're forever at a distance, marveling in the museum without being allowed to touch the master's precious creations... It's as though Anderson shot his and Wilson's script, down to every last period and comma and illustration, but forgot to tell the actors just what it all means ..." --Robert Wilonsky, New Times Los Angeles

"... a droll, literate and slightly surreal comedy from Wes Anderson, explores the dynamics of the most dysfunctional family since the Mansons... Hackman's portrayal rattles the rafters...His performance is so wonderfully outrageous, the rest of the cast serves as counterbalance...'The Royal Tenenbaums' is chock-full of quotable lines and silly surprises, but it doesn't really have a plot...This is not a movie that wraps up its story in a tidy bow, but it's a lot more fun than most of the ones that do." --Rita Kempley, The Washington Post