It takes a special movie to be intelligent without requiring anything from the audience. The year 2001 saw an unusual amount of “smart” movies come out of Hollywood, such as “Memento” and “Vanilla Sky,” but watching those films required enduring a few brain freezes to enjoy the sweet, sweet ice cream.
“The Royal Tenenbaums,” however, provides all the pleasure and none of the pain.
Writer and Director Wes Anderson has a gift for crafting movies with perfect harmony between reality and fantasy. The movie unfolds as a book (narrated by Alec Baldwin), but despite constant reminders of the film’s fiction, it’s easy to step into the Tenenbaums’ world enough to start believing it.
Anderson’s ability to make the audience identify with his absurd, archetypal characters is nothing short of magic. Each of the eight main figures is introduced with head-on shots of their morning preparations, with their charter and actor names superimposed at the bottom. Again, pure fiction. Furthermore, each character has what can loosely be called a costume through the movie — done in some take on 1970s style. But because the movie is less about plot and more about people, the human element underneath the 2-D characters can’t be denied.
Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) is the closest thing to a protagonist found in the movie. His impact on the lives of his wife and three children sets the dysfunctional dynamic of the rest of their lives. Tenenbaum is self-centered and no more than a grown-up kid, very reminiscent of Bill Murray’s character from Anderson’s previous film, “Rushmore.”
Murray returns in “Tenenbaums,” though in a more dramatic role than expected. None of the performances are especially comedic, but the movie is funny — in a dark way. Not enough can be said of the cast’s role in this success. Hackman and Murray are still in top form. Ben Stiller and Gwyneth Paltrow also show some new colors as members of the dysfunctional Tenenbaum family.
But the surprise performance award goes to Luke Wilson as Richie, the youngest Tenenbaum. Wilson has worked with Anderson on all three of his films, but this is by far his largest role. Second to Royal, Richie moves the film along through his actions. Soft spoken and sullen, Wilson has a Zen quality in this role.
Anderson’s magic is found in Wilson’s non-verbal expressions. The magic touch is supported by the look of the sets and costumes, the tone of the performances and the music. The use of music in “Tenenbaums” is like a symphony; changing moods to fit the scene while maintaining a sense of totality. Some songs are only noticed subliminally and others are thrust to the forefront and dominate the scene. Songs touch on pop, classical and jazz styles — and then there is the music composed by Mark Mothersbaugh. The former Devo lead singer has been a part of Anderson’s previous projects and his music is vital to the feeling of the film. Call it a modern, cynical reincarnation of 1950s shopping music.
As beautiful as Anderson’s style is (and it is a style all his own), it’s not for everybody. Even worse, it’s hard to say who will dig it. People who enjoyed “Rushmore” are bound to like “Tenenbaums.” People who didn’t probably won’t. For those who are entirely unfamiliar with Anderson, “Tenenbaums” is as good of an introductory trial as can be found.
E-mail Pulse reporter Mason West
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