Monika-5 Review of The Royal Tenenbaums

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

They put the "fun" in dysfunctional! (minor spoilers)

[5 March 2002]

This biting satire of a dysfunctional family shows offers several surprises: Gene Hackman's deftness at comedy, an amazingly deep performance by Ben Stiller, and the format (like a play or a storybook, with voice-over narration by Alec Baldwin) is one you won't see in every film! The cast is strong, except I feel Gwyneth Paltrow's character was the least developed at all. And I also felt the last half hour didn't totally fit in with the rest of the movie. Gene Hackman was hysterical, and totally deserved the Golden Globe he won. The only parts of the film that made me truly cringe were the "romance" of adopted siblings Paltrow and Luke Wilson (gave me the heebee jeebies) and the lesbian scenes involving Paltrow. Other than that, I found it a darkly funny satire, but not a film everyone will enjoy.