This film was a great disappointment, perhaps because I had watched The Grand Hotel Budapest first, a much better movie. The Royal Tennenbaums shows Anderson's talent and potential yet also the many flaws and growing pains that came with this early production. The main flaw however is not the acting nor the storytelling, but simply the film's lenght: instead of 110 minutes, this film should have lasted maximum 90 minutes! The redundant 20 minutes consist of unnecessary scenes, random filling or simply bad dialogues. Compared to Wes' later films this one does not live up to the expectations. Moreover, there is a very graphic, disturbing suicide attempt by one of the characters, which is completely out of tune with Anderson's fantasy, colorful style: the scene simply breaks the flow - if one can use that word, because the film never becomes really fluid like The Grand Hotel BUdapest does. It lacks rhythm annd grace.
Interesting only for those who are die-hard Anderson fans and willing to be very forgiving for all the flaws. For all others, I recommend Anderson's later work, especially the animated films and his masterpiece so far, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
6/10 (and I feel I'm still being too generous with my rating).
Interesting only for those who are die-hard Anderson fans and willing to be very forgiving for all the flaws. For all others, I recommend Anderson's later work, especially the animated films and his masterpiece so far, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
6/10 (and I feel I'm still being too generous with my rating).