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Huston has received work here-and-there, most notably appearing in Anderson’s two follow up films. Here, Anderson revealed that her character was inspired by his mother, right down to the same bulky eyeglasses. These personal touches throughout the film bring out a certain homemade charm.

Stiller shows that he can handle drama almost as proficiently as comedy. Stiller went on to be a big name star and turned his back completely on smaller filmmaking. Only just this year did he venture back into indie territory with the critical hit yet box office failure Greenberg. I wish he took a page from Adam Sandler’s career book, making biannual ventures into dramatic films to balance out his filmography. Owen Wilson similarly followed in Stiller’s footsteps, yet continually has co-starred in all of Anderson’s films so far. With five upcoming films already in the can, Owen had much more luck than his brother Luke in Hollywood. Showing initial promise, Luke has since floundered around with supporting roles in big budget films. While Luke is an amicable leading man, the films with his name above the marquee have averaged a pitiful $23 million – the average deflates into the teens if you take The Family Stone and Old School out of the mix. Paltrow, whose career hit a highpoint in the late 1990s and early 2000s, has flown under the radar as an underrated great, but has regained some recognition with the female role in the Iron Man franchise.

The Royal Tenenbaums remains director-writer Wes Anderson’s biggest box office success. He has made three more movies since then, including last Thanksgiving's Fantastic Mr. Fox (one of my top movies of that year). Anderson, unlike many indie directors, has never had the ambition to direct a mainstream film. Maybe that is because his distinct visual style wouldn’t fit a studio production. Anderson uses a great amount of symmetry in scenes as well as striking, vivid colors against contrasting backgrounds. He also has a sharp eye for metaphor. Anderson portrays how the Tenenbaums and their friends live in the heyday of their past, by still wearing the same clothing they did in the '70s, while the world around them has stopped wearing tracksuits and cowboy hats. But most notable might be his 90 degree pans to get character reactions without cutting. All of these elements help add to the quirky, dry humor he uses and I will love to see how these techniques will help further the story in the next film he has in store for us.

Released by Touchstone, Disney’s arm for non-G rated films, The Royal Tenenbaums opened in five theaters on December 14, 2001, in a platform release despite the well-known cast. By week four it had its highest grossing weekend with $8.5 million in 751 venues and by week seven it reached its highest screen count at 999 theaters. Made for $21 million, the film ended up with about $52.4 million ($73.6 million adjusted). Overseas, like most films of the ilk, accounted for little, only drawing $19 million.

Through DVD and TV, Tenenbaums has drawn somewhat of a cult following and is considered an essential in the Ben Stiller-Owen Wilson fan DVD collection. With the witty tagline, “Family Isn’t a Word…It’s a Sentence,” the dysfunctional family comedy has always been a reliable box office draw. Seeing these stars in a film just as they were on the cusp of entering mainstream success or just the irreverent humor alone that most can relate to when it comes to strained families, The Royal Tenenbaums is definitely With Us. It even has the stamp of approval from Criterion (a company that remasters current and classic important films); their recent DVD release is packed with worthwhile extras. My only complaint would be that the DVD is not packaged with a CD soundtrack - Anderson is one of the few masters of incorporating classic songs as the soundtrack to his films.

Wes Anderson is one of today’s few new current filmmakers whose unique style and quirky wit is a strong candidate to stand the test of time, being analyzed and celebrated. While the humor certainly is not for everyone, The Royal Tenenbaums is about the human nature of the fear of moving forward, and Anderson is not afraid to take the audience to dark places. The Addams Family was one of my favorite kid TV shows, but this snappy, dark, dry-humored, dysfunctional family might take the cake. Eli Cash tells Royal at one point, “I wish I was a Tenenbaum,” and like Royal, I would say, “Me too, me too.” Well, on second thought, maybe just a family friend would suffice.

8 out of 10
Verdict: With Us

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