The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

With some interesting twists and some quirky turns, this film gives a whole new meaning to crazy. The Royal Tenenbaums has an all-star cast that participates in both genius and nutty activities and ultimately leads them all to do things which, to others, are quite possibly morally questionable. It could also be argued that this film addresses some questions in society today -- such as overprotective parenting. Such as faking your death. Or such as falling in love with your adopted sister. Alright, maybe not the last two. But it is certain that this film is meant to keep you constantly entertained with the families wild escapades and brilliantly crafted crazy ideas. Even some of the cliches such as falling down a ditch in a construction site leave you chuckling to yourself because it is a film that simply makes you feel good. In a desperate attempt to get his family back after a series of disastrous birthdays, Royal appears to his ex-wife with a plea that he is sure will make her change her mind. However, he also has more selfish reasons than just wanting to see his children -- he wants to stop her getting re-married. So what's the logical thing to do? Clearly, it's to tell her that you only have six weeks to live -- the only way to a woman's heart. But it works. For a while. Due to their own various problems, the children have all returned home; leaving the whole family living together under one roof once more. This, of course, doesn't look like it will end too well. I thought that this film was a stab at the various parenting techniques -- all of them not good. There's the spoiling them, which Etheline has a tendency to do -- she's very soft and kind, and gives all of them what they want in order to try and raise a family of geniuses. Even Eli, a little boy from across the road who wants to be just like the Tenenbaums is pampered by her. This is followed by Royal's version, of which he does nothing at all. He laughs at his children and feels a need to call out about how Margot was adopted -- reaffirming it in her mind from a young age. He tries, but Royal royally fails. Then there's Chas -- Etheline and Royal's first child. Of his own, he has two young boys, who's mother died in a plane accident, leaving Chas overbearing, overprotective, and overzealous. He forces the two children into doing fire drills in their own home in the middle of the night, he forces them down the gym three times a week and doesn't let them out of his sight for fear that something will happen. Chas is the complete opposite of Royal Tenenbaum, and for most of the film, he seems proud of that fact. Though this film was at times amusing, I felt that it wasn't quite what I was expecting. This isn't always a bad thing, and in some ways, it wasn't with this film. But for a comedy, I found some elements too weak for it to be entirely hilarious.