Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Top of the Otts in Film #9: the Royal Tenenbaums


9. The Royal Tenenbaums – Alone among Wes Anderson’s cups of spiked chamomile, this is the one that tastes good the first time. Funny, disquieting, and thoughtful as always, Anderson produced his best script and assembled his best cast. He put a coda on the venerable careers of Angelica Huston, Gene Hackman, and Danny Glover, capturing them all at their best. Even the wooden Gwyneth Paltrow comes across well; we would only hope that it would have been her own coda, rather than standing around while Iron Man happened around her. No matter, this movie scores points across the intellectual and humor spectrum. Is it brilliant or a cheap joke to have your manic depressive give up playing one-socked tennis with Gandhi? Both. And it works. 

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