The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary — all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father’s fault. The Royal Tenenbaums is the story of the family’s sudden, unexpected reunion one recent winter.

With Anderson’s images, seductive as they are, we can ultimately only guess — what Margot’s plays are about, or who Etheline’s suitors are… And that makes Anderson’s film an exhilarating experience, a real jungle gym for the imagination.

Sight & Sound

If it sounds bittersweet, it is, but like the best family albums, Tenenbaums is split wide with open-heartedness, and equally generous with its triumphs and failures.

In These Times