Royal Tenenbaums, The (UK)
Family Isn`t A Word... It`s A Sentence
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 108 mins
Retail Price: £19.99
Release Date:
Content Type: Movie
Synopsis:
Wes Anderson`s The Royal Tenenbaums is the richly tragicomic story of one unique family`s sudden, unexpected reunion. Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) and his wife Etheline (Angelica Huston) had three children - Chas (Ben Stiller), Ritchie (Luke Wilson) and Margot (Gwneth Paltrow), and then they separated. Chas started buying real estate in his early teens and seemed to have an almost preternatural understanding of international finance. Margot was a playwright and received a Braverman Grant of fifty thousand dollars in the ninth grade. Ritchie was a junior championship tennis player and won the US Nationals three years in a row.
Virtually all memory of brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father`s fault. With a literate script and a wonderful ensemble cast, The Royal Tenenbaums confirms Anderson as one of the most gifted directors on the American scene.
Special Features:
Commentary by Wes Anderson
With The Filmmaker
`The Peter Bradley Show` - interviews with cast members
Deleted scenes
Chas` Criterion Intro
Cast and crew interviews
Outtakes
Trailers
The Art of the Movie
Collectible insert including Eric Anderson`s drawings
Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Subtitle Tracks:
English
CC: English
Directed By:
Wes Anderson
Written By:
Owen Wilson
Wes Anderson
Starring:
Luke Wilson
Ben Stiller
Gwyneth Paltrow
Anjelica Huston
Gene Hackman
Casting By:
Douglas Aibel
Soundtrack By:
Mark Mothersbaugh
Director of Photography:
Robert D. Yeoman
Editor:
Dylan Tichenor
Daniel R. Padgett
Costume Designer:
Karen Patch
Production Designer:
David Wasco
Producer:
Will Sweeney
Scott Rudin
Barry Mendel
Wes Anderson
Executive Producer:
Owen Wilson
Rudd Simmons
Distributor:
Buena Vista
Your Opinions and Comments
I don`t know if any of you have ever seen this film but let me start this review with this sentence. THIS WAS THE BEST MOVIE RELEASED IN 2002. Period. It is funny, sad, dramatic, beautiful to look at, has a wonderful soundtrack and is just perfect. The whole ensemble cast get into the characters wondefully, although all are very wierd and quite subdued. Apparently Wes Anderson scripts his characters in a lot of detail, so there is very little room for the cast to manouvre. But every scene is perfect. From the setting up of the families history to the final few scenes, which are very heartbreaking, it is perfect. I`m not going to say anything else about it. I feel you should all see it for yourself.
VIDEO
A wondeful 2.35.1 transfer has been put onto this disc. The movie has been shot in very much a fairytale palette, to give New York a very magical look. Every single colour is brought to the screen beautifully.
AUDIO
So, we lose the R1 DTS track, but the DD 5.1 is no slouch. The surrounds are used very well, and all the dialogue is crystal clear, and everything kicks in when it is needed, particularly in the upbeat music scenes. Then you notice the space consuming foreign language tracks, and you realise why we don`t have DTS.
EXTRAS
Unfortunately, we lose one very vital extra from the R1 Criterion Release. Even worse, it is the commentary. It is sadly missed, and also makes the loss of the DTS track even stranger. All the extras are on the second disc though. There are trailers and lots of photo galleries, which, although nice, offers little insight. Of more value are all the interviews, including an insanly odd Peter Bradley Show with some minor actors from Andersons three big movies. So, not a great showing of extras, but not bad. Luckily, the audio visuals more than make up for it.