Film I’ve never been too much of a fan of family dramas, the patriarch and matriarch, the kids. In the fact the only example of the genre I find tolerable is ‘The Brady Bunch Movie’ and only there because all of the expected characters and emotions are played to knowingly. In ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ we find ourselves in a conventional territory; except here we are in place after the end of the film when the father cuts the turkey at Christmas as his kids look on and his wife looks up at him lovingly. In this film, the central theme seems to be the importance of a guiding father figure – and how the lack of such a shadow can cloud and eventually be the ruination of kids lives. Which is why I don’t like family dramas.
This is not as good as ‘Rushmore’ and it lacks the charm of ‘Bottle Rocket’. In those films we cared for the characters and so what happens to them. Here, there isn’t anyone to hang onto. So although we have a film that has its moments are pure hilarity, there isn’t anything else. We aren’t moved because we’ve been here before. The distinctiveness of the previous films has been replaced by a sort of faux-CoenBrothers.
And yet I’d recommend the film. It is better than anything else you’re likely to see. The sight gags are fantastically inventive, the detailing in the set design and costume stunning. The understatedness works for the most part. Again it’s a Paltrow movie and again we see another neat little performance from her (although we miss her smile – this is a frowning moment for her). Hackman reprises his Lex Luthor persona a lot; Angelica Houston does very little but gives a lot; the Wilson brothers are also good – although Owen looks like he’s just walked off the sat of ‘Shanghai Noon’ which makes him seem slightly incongorous; Ben Stiller seems to think he’s still playing Angry Guy from ‘Friends’; and Danny Glover reminds us why he’s such a great actor, like Houston, making his scenes via his screen presence. [ebert, shuttlecocks]
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