The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Wes Anderson's work has not failed me yet. Isle Of Dogs was insanely creative; Moonrise Kingdom was beautiful and Fantastic Mr Fox was a masterpiece. So, I of course had to try the rest of his work.

The Royal Tenenbaums didn't only meet my expectations, it surpassed them. I now class it as one of my favourite movies of all time.

To begin, the cinematography is painstakingly detailed. There are so many different camera angles and frames that every shot ends up being iconic and memorable. Each scene has a chapter sign come up in a page of a book with the movie's title. This gives you an idea that the film is told in sections, which appealed to me. A clear colour palette was in each scene, which helped to convey the mood. The Royal Tenenbaums was gorgeous to look at.

Another point to make, was that the story was fantastic as well. The Royal Tenenbaums is a beautiful mix of dark humour and hard-hitting emotion hidden underneath. One particular scene(I can't describe it for fear of spoiling) made my hair stand on end and my breath catch in my throat. You're never really sure whether you should be laughing or not, which is one amazing element of Wes Anderson's movies. The dialogue is extremely memorable and the wit razor-sharp.

Wes Anderson's movies usually contain eccentric characters that we get very attached to. The Royal Tenenbaums is no exception. In fact, I wholeheartedly loved the colourful oddballs of this movie. I wasn't used to seeing Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller play serious roles(even though the film is also comedic). However, I desperately want to see them do more now! Chas Tenenbaum, played wonderfully by Ben Stiller, was a very interesting character to analyse. Richie Tenenbaum, played with quiet brilliance by Luke Wilson, was also an intruiging character. He didn't really have as much dialogue as the others, but his emotion was still conveyed well. One scene in particular featuring his character was chilling to the bone and stuck in my mind. Margot Tenenbaum, played iconically by Gwyneth Paltrow, became one of my favourite movie characters of all time. Her deadpan manner and sophisticated eccentricity really appealed to me. But possibly the best performance in the movie, was Gene Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum. He was a cantankerous unruly old man,but he truly loved his children. Despite his crimes, you felt great sympathy for him and became attached to him.

To conclude, The Royal Tenenbaums is an astonishing piece of filmmaking that I shall surely never forget.