The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Directed by: Wes Anderson
Starring: Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Bill Murray, Luke Wilson
Duration: 110’ 

The «Royal Tenenbaums» is Wes Anderson’s best film. And that is because, on a rare occasion, the director’s flamboyant and fetishist stylizations serve a «down-to-earth» story and are used to offer a tender and affectionate touch to a whole gallery of eccentric characters, who by the end of the film have been humanized and have become extremely likable. 

It helps, of course, the fact that in the film is found one of Gene Hackman’s finest performances, that titan of American acting, an adorable cast, calm weighing of the humoristic and dramatic elements, an amazing soundtrack and a narration that quickly overcomes any directorial show-offs and even elicits emotion. Especially when it is gradually revealed that the melancholic «Tenenbaums» are nothing but a reminder of the necessary attachments which help each one make the transition from short moments of happiness to sorrow and from life to death more tolerable. Even a bit sweeter. Loukas Katsikas