Best of the Decade #13: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
After his initial breakout in the ’90s with Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, Wes Anderson went into the beginning of this decade riding high on critical acclaim and ready to break into the mainstream. For his third feature film, he would deliver his most ambitious and emotionally complex project to date: The Royal Tenenbaums.
A massive cast jam-packed with talented actors that had largely been forgotten (Gene Hackman, Danny Glover, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray), along with some current stars (Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller), and a few familiar faces from Anderson’s previous films (Kumar Pallana), made for an amazing ensemble of characters based loosely on J.D. Salinger’s Glass family.
Some have called this Wes Anderson’s ultimate masterpiece, and while I don’t entirely agree, there is a lot to appreciate in this melancholy yet darkly comedic tale of a dysfunctional family trying to sort itself out. It became clear with this movie just how precise Wes Anderson’s attention to detail could be; everything from set design and costumes to music and typefaces were chosen with the utmost care. If there had been any doubt before, this firmly established him as a full-fledged auteur, and demonstrated the true scope of his creative vision.
The movie would earn Anderson his only Academy Award nomination to date (for Best Original Screenplay), and become his most commercially successful film (although at $71 million worldwide, it wasn’t exactly a blockbuster). It also helped define the indie “dramedy” subgenre that exploded throughout most of the decade courtesy of studio arms like Fox Searchlight, Paramount Vantage and Focus Features.
Lastly, The Royal Tenenbaums continued to elevate the careers of Owen and Luke Wilson, and arguably helped lay the roots for the so-called “Frat Pack” along with Zoolander that same year (although it probably wasn’t until Old School in 2003 that all the connections were made and the phrase was coined). Either way, it’s definitely a significant film from the past ten years, and one that is worthy of another look.
Check out previous entries from our Top 20 Films of the ’00s.
Comments (10)
At the tender age of 17, already well versed in film due in large part to my sister I fell in love with this movie. And it was because of this film that I fell in love with writing. And due to this films exsistence I came to appreciate cinema on another level. All that shit aside this is one of only 10 films I can watch 5 times in one week. Trust me I know. I ended up catching rushmore after I saw this and have a hard time placing one as better as the other. Top pick boys.
Posted by Drewsifer on December 11th, 2009Awesome pick of coarse. I have to wonder what film got the academy award for best set design that year? I know there is a lot of discussion about Wes doing his thing too much, but when you look at most films where a teenagers room they just throw up a few posters on the wall (ala Michael Bay) I would still much prefer a film where the director has a unique vision, even if he gets derailed by it from time to time.
Posted by xego on December 11th, 2009I personally like Rushmore and even Bottle Rocket (and perhaps Fantastic Mr Fox, though I’d have to see it again later to see if it stands up) better, but I understand I’m in the minority there so if this is the Wes Anderson movie for the list I have no problem with it.
Posted by Justice on December 11th, 2009Hey, you got one right!
Posted by Rus in Chicago on December 11th, 2009Justice: I don’t think you’re in the minority, but unfortunately Rushmore and Bottle Rocket weren’t released in this decade.
Posted by Sean on December 11th, 2009Glad to see this here, I love this movie, and it’s probably even in my top 5 of all time
Posted by Drew on December 11th, 2009Yeah, this is number one on my list.
Posted by Nate on December 12th, 2009This is my fave from W A to date. Dog’s Blood.
Posted by doug nagy on December 13th, 2009Great movie, but my personal favourite is The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Maybe it will make the top 10
Posted by Sarna on December 14th, 2009This is my personal pick for best of the decade. It is essentially a completed version of Orson Welles’ “The Magnificent Ambersons.” The nuance, hilarity, and emotional truthfulness at work here makes “The Royal Tenenbaums” easily Anderson’s best work to date, and one of my favorite films of all-time.
Posted by Eric on December 18th, 2009Leave a Reply