Royal Tenenbaums - R\nStarring: Gene Hackman, Anjelica Houston \nDirected by: Wes Anderson\nShowing: Showplace East 11\nDirector Wes Anderson and co-writer Owen Wilson have become masters at creating awkward situations for their characters and their audiences. Their movies are filled with moments that would be funny if only we were sure they were a joke. But we're not sure, and that makes the moment funny and sad at the same time. \n"The Royal Tenenbaums," Anderson and Wilson's follow-up to 1998's "Rushmore," is a film about an odd family and their interactions with each other over the years. Their movies have been called "dark comedies," but unlike the Coen Brothers who use humor to make fun of murders, kidnappings and other crimes, Anderson and Wilson tell complex stories about complex people wrapped up in the humor and sadness of everyday life. \nIn the film, Gene Hackman plays Royal Tenenbaum, a man who returns from solitude to live with his family. He tells his estranged wife (Anjelica Houston) that he is dying, and by coincidence, his three children all encounter circumstances in which they too must return home. \nThe family is one of the most colorful I've ever seen in a movie. All three kids were troubled child prodigies: Chas (Ben Stiller) was a smart investor who made a fortune as a kid, Richie (Luke Wilson) was a pro tennis champ and their adopted sister Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) was a playwright. While growing up in their household, their mother honed and encouraged their skills and ambitions, while their father stoked their troubles and insecurities. \nThe movie is more focused than "Rushmore" but has a similar feel, and the entire cast, including Bill Murray, Danny Glover and Owen Wilson is brilliant. It would have been easy for the filmmakers to allow their characters to stay within the bounds of their unusual personalities, but each one is fleshed out into a real person, and this character development lifts the film from just a witty comedy to a great character study. It is, thus far, the best movie released in Bloomington this year.\n
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