'Royal Tenenbaums? displays ingenious, inventive filmmaking

"The Royal Tenenbaums"

Directed by: Wes Anderson

Starring: Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Danny Glover, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bill Murray, Ben Stiller, Alec Baldwin

Rated: R

Ordinarily, I wouldn't have a list of "Starring:" as long as the one above, but this is an unusual case. And an unusual film.

From the central character, played by Gene Hackman, to the voice of Alec Baldwin as the film's narrator, "The Royal Tenenbaums" is a true ensemble piece.

Robert Altman is the only director that comes to mind who could possibly mesh so many big stars together into a cohesive whole with no egos showing through any better than Wes Anderson has managed here.

Despite the fact that Ms. Paltrow, Mr. Stiller and many other characters spend nearly the entire film with furrowed brows as well as being hyped up on any number of secret addictions the astute movie lover will see that these actors are having the times of their careers.

This is Anderson's third film. His first, co-written with Owen Wilson (who also co-wrote, stars in and executive produced this one) was the criminally under-seen "Bottle Rocket."

His second (also with Wilson as co-writer) was the more commercially ac-cepted, as well as critically acclaimed, "Rushmore."

With "The Royal Tenenbaums," An-derson has established himself as an A-list director and has turned in one of the finest films of 2001.

Funny, bittersweet, tender and insightful, this movie manages to put the "fun" in "dysfunctional."

I laughed out loud more times than I can count, but by the final act I found myself holding back a tear.

What surprised me most, though, was the sheer number of people at the nearly sold-out showing I attended.

With "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" around, I'm used to long lines nowadays, but the hot ticket this weekend was "The Royal Tenenbaums." I never pegged this as a "Springfield" sort of film.

That it's doing so well is kind of refreshing.

Never stooping to mere sarcasm or parody, Anderson and Wilson have fashioned a screenplay that breaks some in-ventive new ground.

Many precious bits of dialogue, especially lines delivered by Gene Hackman as the patriarch of the Tenenbaums (he's the "Royal" in the film's title), are instant classics.

Consider this: "Anyone interested in grabbin' a couple burgers and hittin' the cemetery?"

OK, I guess you had to be there. And you should be.

Mr. Royal Tenenbaum has been es-tranged from his family, but not divorced from his wife, for a good number of years.

Etheline Tenenbaum (Anjelica Hus-ton) has raised her three kids (one's adopted) alone, and all of them have been proclaimed geniuses.

So has the neighbor kid, Eli, who spent most of his youth in the Tenenbaum household.

Chas is a financial genius who made his first million in his early teens. Richie became a world champion tennis pro before hitting 20. And Margot, the truly tortured artist, was a renowned playwright while still a freshman in high school.

What could go wrong?

Good question, and "The Royal Tenen-baums" gives a lot of good answers.

Without giving anything away, let's just say that one of the Tenenbaum kids now has kids, too, and their names are "Ari" and "Uzi."

Another Tenenbaum has spent a year on an ocean liner, just aimlessly drifting from port to port, from the Arctic to Australia.

The third tends to be locked in the bathroom for days on end watching TV and smoking cigs.

Neighbor Eli, who fell bass ackwards into being a novelist, goes through drugs like most people enjoy a Chinese buffet.

Mother Etheline is being courted and, after 20-odd years, is faced with finally divorcing Royal.

The entire clan, as well as a number of ancillary characters, reconvene at the Tenenbaums' New York City brownstone to face the fact that Dad is dying of stomach cancer.

It's a wild ride that takes many twists and turns, and seamlessly moves from emotion to emotion without ever becoming manipulative.

It may be a little "dark" for some folks' tastes, but "The Royal Tenen-baums" is an ingeniously inventive film. It's a real breath of fresh air in a Hol-lywood atmosphere that can tend to become rather stifling.

(Jim Wunderle works at Associated Video Producers and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.)