By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * )
The Tenenbaum family live in a graceful old mansion in New York. Royal (Gene Hackman) is a lawyer; Etheline (Anjelica Huston) is both a brilliant palaeontologist and bridge expert.
Their teen-agers are Chas (Ben Stiller), a real-estate wizard; Rit-chie (Luke Wilson), soon
to be a tennis champion; and Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), their adopted daughter, a playwright. Even the neighbour, Eli Cash (Owen Wilson), will become a bestselling novelist. Life couldn't be sweeter -- until Royal is kicked out after an affair.
Fast-forward 22 years. Mum has written a book about the kids, Family of Geniuses; her financial adviser (Danny Glover) has his eye on her assets. Chas' wife has died in a weird plane crash and he is raising two small sons; Ritchie has quit tennis and travels the world on cruise ships; Margot has writer's block and is married to a depressed psychologist (Bill Murray).
Broke, unable to work, Royal pretends he is dying of cancer and, with the help of the family's Indian servant, conspires to win back his family and his home.
So far, so funny, and a good set-up. Somehow it falls apart when the family tumbles from harmless eccentrics into self-indulgent neurotics.
Even Royal, the loveable old rogue who takes his grandkids on an adventure around town, teaching them to run red lights, shoplift, gamble and water-bomb passing cars, has a nasty, bigoted side.
Does anyone remember laughter?
* DVD features: movie (103min); commentary by writer/director Wes Anderson; With the Filmmaker portrait by Albert Maysles; interviews and behind-the-scenes footage; outtakes; The Peter Bradley Show, interviews with cast members; The Art of the Movie: Young Richie's murals and paintings, still photographs by set photographer James Hamilton, book and magazine covers; Studio 360 radio segment on painter Miguel Calderon; storyboards; collectible insert including Eric Anderson's drawings.
