You’re parents were wealthy and you were all recognized as children to be geniuses. And [it goes without saying] you were all rather…eccentric.
And when eccentric familes crumble you can be certain the part about them getting back together again [after 22 years of “betrayal, failure and disaster”] will be filled with all manner of strange occurrences. Of course some people can afford to be stranger than others.
Well, I happen to like strange people. Or, rather, I do if they pose no actual threat to me. So, sure, I’m on board. I only wish my own family had been eccentric enough to tempt me to go back.
And the old codger is just a con man! He’s playing them just as he has always done. But it doesn’t take long to spot the trajectory here. The scam becomes the real thing. Me, I don’t buy into for a second. But I forgive them because they are so far off the beaten path. Well, as families go.
Anyway, this is one of those films where, in some respects, the characters are way over the top. It’s really hard to take them [or the narrative] all that seriously. But there is enough realism stuffed into it that it doesn’t come off as just a farce.
The ending? Gag me with a spoon.
IMDb
[b]The original hawk used to play Mordecai was kidnapped during shooting and held for ransom - production could not wait for him to be returned which is the reason that the bird that appears later in the movie has “more white feathers” - it’s a different bird.
Gene Hackman mentioned in interviews that he was somewhat hesitant to accept the part, as he felt that he himself had been insensitive to his own family at different points in his life. He asked them if they would find him playing this character uncomfortable for their own sake. They all agreed he should accept the part.[/b]
wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_Tenenbaums
trailer: youtu.be/HaMfV72q40U
THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS [2001]
Written in part and directed by Wes Anderson
[b]Young Chas [asking dad about Margot’s first play]: Well, what’d you think, Dad?
Royal: Didn’t seem believable to me.
Royal: Eli, why are you wearing pajamas? Do you live here?
Young Richie: He has permission to sleep over.
Young Chas: Well, did you at least think the characters were well developed?
Royal: What characters? This is a bunch of little kids dressed up in animal costumes.
Young Margot [stiffly]: Good night, everyone.
Royal: Well, sweetie, don’t be mad at me. That’s just one man’s opinion.
[Margot gets up and gathers her presents. Ethel glares at Royal]
Narrator: He had not been invited to any of their parties since. In fact, virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums had been erased by nearly two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster.
…
Richie: Read it back to me so far, Pietro.
Cote d’Ivoire Radio Operator: “Dear Eli, I’m in the middle of the ocean. I haven’t left my room in four days. I’ve never been more lonely in my life, and I think I’m in love with Margot.”
Richie: New paragraph.
…
Raleigh [into tape recorder, softly]: Dudley suffers from a rare disorder combining symptoms of amnesia, dyslexia, and color-blindness, with a highly acute sense of hearing.
Dudley [from adjoining room]: I’m not color blind, am I?
Raleigh: I’m afraid you are.
…
Chas [moving back home with his mother]: It’s not safe over there. The apartment. I have to get some new sprinklers and a backup security system installed.
Ethel: But there are no sprinklers here, either.
Chas: Well, we might have to do something about that, too.
…
Ethel: Raleigh says you’ve been spending 6 hours a day locked in here, watching television and soaking in the tub.
Margot [lying in the bath]: I doubt that.
Ethel: Well, I don’t think that’s very healthy, do you? Nor do I think it’s very intelligent to keep an electrical gadget on the edge of the bathtub.
Margot: I tie it to the radiator.
…
Uzi: Who’s your father?
Chas: His name is Royal Tenenbaum.
Ari: You told us he was already dead.
Chas: Yeah, well, now he’s really dying.
…
Richie: You know, Rachael’s buried out there, too.
Royal: Who?
Chas: My wife.
Royal: Oh, that’s right, isn’t it? Well, we’ll have to swing by her grave, too.
…
Royal [to Chas]: Oh, that’s right. We’ve got another body buried here, haven’t we?
…
Jim [game announcer]: That’s 72 unforced errors for Richie Tenenbaum. He’s playing the worst tennis of his life. What’s he feeling right now, Tex Hayward?
Tex: I don’t know, Jim. There’s obviously something wrong with him. He’s taken off his shoes and one of his socks and…actually, I think he’s crying.
…
Ari: Were you in prison?
Royal: Kinda. Minimum security. I got jacked by the IRS. Shall we split?
Ari: Yes, sir.
Royal: No, call me Mr. Tennenbaum.
Ari: OK.
Royal: Oh, I’m kidding. Call me Pappy.
…
Royal: Pagoda, call Dr. McClure.
…
Royal: Chas has those boys cooped up like a pair of jackrabbits, Ethel.
Ethel: He has his reasons.
Royal: Oh, I know that, but you can’t raise boys to be scared of life. You gotta brew some recklessness into them.
Ethel: I think that’s terrible advice.
Royal: No, you don’t.
…
Henry: Is that a Tic-Tac?
…
Henry [with the family all gathered around]: I know what stomach cancer looks like. I’ve seen it. And you don’t eat three cheeseburgers a day with French fries if you got it. The pain is excruciating.
Royal: How would you know?
Henry: My wife had it. Not only is there no Dr. McClure at Colby General there is no Colby General. It closed in 1974.
…
Royal [after being exposed]: Look, I know I’m going to be the bad guy on this one, but I just want to say the last six days have been the best six days of probably my whole life.
Narrator: Immediately after making this statement, Royal realized that it was true.
…
Raleigh [after reading a private investigator’s research on Margot’s background, which reveals she’s been a smoker since she was 12, she married a man in Jamaica at 19, has had numerous affairs and one-night stands with men and women, including Eli Cash]: She smokes?
…
Margot: Dudley, where is he?
Dudley: Who?
…
Chas: Why did you try to kill yourself?
Ethel: Don’t press him right now.
Richie: I wrote a suicide note.
Chas: You did?
Richie: Yeah. Right after I regained consciousness.
Chas: Can we read it?
Richie: No.
Chas: Can you paraphrase it for us?
Richie: I don’t think so.
Chas: Is it dark?
Richie: Of course it’s dark, it’s a suicide note.
…
Raleigh: You’ve made a cuckold of me.
Margot: I know.
Raleigh: Many times over.
Margot: I’m sorry.
Raleigh: And you nearly killed your poor brother.
Ethel: What’s he talking about?
Margot: It doesn’t matter.
Raleigh: She’s balling Eli Cash.
…
Royal: You’re in love with Margot?
Richie: Yeah.
Royal: Well, since when?
Richie: Since always.
Royal: Does she know?
Richie: Uh-huh.
Royal: Well, what does she feel about that?
Richie: I think she feels confused.
Royal: Well, I can understand that, it’s probably illegal!
Richie: I don’t think so, we’re not related by blood.
Royal: That’s true. It’s still frowned upon. But then, what isn’t these days, right?
…
Eli: I wish you’d’ve done this for me when I was a kid.
Richie: But you didn’t have a drug problem then.
Eli: Yeah, but it still would’ve meant a lot to me.
…
Royal: I’ve always been considered an asshole for about as long as I can remember. That’s just my style. But I’d really feel blue if I didn’t think you were going to forgive me.
Henry: I don’t think you’re an asshole, Royal. I just think you’re kind of a son of a bitch.
Royal: Well, I really appreciate that.
…
[the family is gathered at the cemetery for Royal’s burial]
Narrator: Among the few possessions he left to his heirs was a set of Encyclopedia Britannica in storage at the Lindbergh Palace Hotel under the names Ari and Uzi Tenenbaum. No-one spoke at the funeral, and Father Petersen’s leg had not yet mended, but it was agreed among them that Royal would have found the event to be most satisfactory.
[Chas, now wearing a black Adidas tracksuit, nods to his sons]
Ari: Fire!
[Ari and Uzi, also in black Adidas tracksuits, fire their air rifles into the air]
Ari: Fire!
…
Royal’s headstone:
ROYAL O’REILLY TENNENBAUM
1932 - 2001
DIED TRAGICALLY RESCUING HIS
FAMILY FROM THE WRECKAGE OF A
DESTROYED SINKING BATTLESHIP[/b]