The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

I had a professor in college who was eccentric. He would ride his bike to the buildings year around and would reuse the same brown paper bag he would carry his lunch in. One day I had lunch with him and noticed the brown paper bag had dates on it. When I asked him about it, he told me they were from the book he was writing. When I asked him when the book would be out he laughed and told me he's been working on it for ten years and probably wouldn't be finished for another ten. Okay, that might not be so crazy, but if my professor was a character in the film the Royal Tenenbaums, he would be the normal guy.

The Royal Tenenbaums is a dark comedy centered around a family of brilliant wackos. Gene Hackman plays Royal Tenenbaum, a low-life lawyer, who is married to Angelica Huston, a complacent anthropologist. Together they have three children, Ben Stiller, a financial guru, Gwyneth Paltrow, an adopted playwrite, and Luke Wilson, a washed-up professional tennis player. When the children are still very young yet accomplished in their own rights, Gene Hackman separates from their mother. The children are comically scarred in their own ways.

The cast that makes up the Tenenbaums and their cohorts is amazing. Bill Murray, Danny Glover, and Owen Wilson are very funny in their subtle humor.

This film is not for everyone. This film is a very dark ride. The story moves quickly as the children grow up and the wit is even quicker. This is not your typical Zoolander-esque film one would expect from seeing Stiller and Owen Wilson in the credits. The humor is very dry and highbrow to say the least. If you were a fan of Rushmore ( 1998 ) then I highly suggest this film.