Wes Anderson is not on everyone's favorite director's list. I asked around, and I got Nolan, Tarantino, Mani Rathnam, Anurag Kashyap, Scorsese and a few others, but not Wes Anderson. Not that Wes Anderson is underrated. He is considered one of the greatest auteurs of our time. Yet he is not still unknown to many among my circle. Be it the dollhouse like set designs, symmetrical shot framing, huge ensemble casts or flawed misfit characters, all of these sound like traits of a pretentious art house films. Yet, most of his movies are brimming with charm, subtle humor, all the while dealing with heavy topics. I have no idea how he does that, but no one comes close to what he can do.  

Why I love this movie!

The Royal Tenenbums is about the Tenenbum family, their lows and if and how they recover from it. At the start of the movie, we are presented with an introduction of each character and what they are struggling with. Royal Tenenbum, the patriarchy, separated (not divorced) from his wife for decades, has run out of money and needs to vacate the hotel he was staying in. Chas Tenenbum, the eldest son, is a recent widower. Richie Tenenbum, the youngest son, hiding away in a ship as an effect of unrequited love. Margot, the adopted daughter, has her own issues with identity. And I could go on about the side characters. This is how the movie starts, with each character flawed in a way and dealing with their own crisis. The rest of the movie is about how they come to terms with their own self and what part Royal plays in it.

What I love about the movie is that, each character arc is satisfying, and one can tell they have undergone a metamorphosis by the time credits roll. Each of them hit their lows at different points in the movie. And the recovery is not in isolation, but is tied to how the characters help each other out. Moreover, this movie touches on some heavy subjects such as grief, depression, suicide, unrequited love. Yet there is a sense of whimsy, humor without undercutting these heavy subjects. While a lot of other movies can hit the emotional highs hit by this one, this one doesn't manipulate you into feeling low beforehand. In most movies, a character's action among other things is also to move the plot forward. The good ones develop their characters so that their actions feel more like a natural progression than just to serve the plot.

Gene Hackman who plays Royal is wonderful, but that is what we have come to expect of him. He slips into the deceptive nature of the character at the start of the movie and brings in the earnest in the latter parts.  Angelica Houston was great in her role. This is Gwyneth Paltrow's best role on screen, a blonde goth, and she plays it just right. But the stand-out for me were Ben Stiller and Luke Wilson. Ben Still could have easily been a caricature, given all the characters except his are understated. Does it make his overstated? But he brings enough pain and anxiety to the screen without going overboard. Luke Wilson gets some heavier scenes, and he brings all of his acting chops to the screen. Special mention to Owen Wilson, who was also good in the movie.

The colors in this movie are used cleverly, and the pay-off is great. The entire movie has warm bright tones albeit one scene and when it happens, it accentuates that particular scene. This is by far the most powerful scene in the movie. It is cold, damp, disturbing and vile. And this is by design. Even the editing, which so far was smooth, becomes increasingly choppy. Just as the scene ends, and the next one starts, Anderson interjects humor without undercutting the previous one. Pure genius.  

Slow motion is used sparingly but in the scenes it is used, it elevates that particular scene. One other thing I do appreciate a lot is there are no sudden or fast camera movements for the most part. The pan shots, the symmetrical close-ups, they all add to the story. This is one of Wes Anderson's trademark - all the aspects of film making such a cinematography, editing, color, production design add a lot more context than what you would normally find by in films by other filmmakers.  

The songs, little narrator voice-overs, shots of written word, overhead shots of things, profile shots, everything is crafted so meticulously that I have to guess Wes Anderson has OCD of some form. Especially the dialogues. I appreciated how they flowed, sounded snappy, and not forced. I never understood why I loved the dialogues so much. This video explains how Anderson style of editing lends a musicality and rhythm to the dialogues, probably the reason.

The choice of music is mostly Eurorock and often elevates certain scenes to an iconic status. Be it the instrumental cover of Hey Jude by the Beatles or These Days by Nico, the songs adds an extra layer to the world that is crafted.

Just like how Gotham is so vital in what it adds to the Batman stories, the film making and the world in Royal Tenenbaums is woven tightly with the screenplay, it is impossible to think of them separately.

Conclusion

This is one of those movies, I would like to watch when it is raining while having a pint of coffee chocolate chip ice cream. It is not fast-paced. It is on the slower side, but it flows smoothly enough that I like the pace. Not only that, but it doesn't insult my intelligence and evokes a wide array of emotions. It is one of the best and unique dramadies to be ever made.