The Royal Tenenbaums
Movie, 2001, The 2000s, Set in A family of geniuses
The Royal Tenenbaums is #3 of 13 in release order and #3 of 13 in chronological order in the Wes Anderson.
The story
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.
The Royal Tenenbaums recap
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) follows a disgraced father who fakes a terminal illness to win his way back into the lives of his three former child prodigies. Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) walked out on his wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston) years earlier. Now financial genius Chas (Ben Stiller) is a widower smothering his two sons, playwright Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) hides in the bath and in a dull marriage to neurologist Raleigh St. Clair (Bill Murray), and former tennis star Richie (Luke Wilson) is adrift after a public breakdown. All of them drift back to the family house just as Etheline's accountant Henry Sherman (Danny Glover) proposes to her. Royal's lie is exposed, Richie learns of Margot's secret past and her affair with novelist Eli Cash (Owen Wilson), and he attempts suicide. Wes Anderson directs from a script with Owen Wilson. As his third feature, it follows Rushmore and precedes The Life Aquatic.
The Royal Tenenbaums ending explained
The Royal Tenenbaums ends with the family mended and Royal dead of a heart attack at 68. Royal grants Etheline a divorce so she can marry Henry. On the wedding day, a drugged Eli crashes his car into the house; Royal pulls his grandsons clear, and Chas, who loses his dog, finally thanks his father. Afterwards Margot stages a play about the family, Eli enters rehab, Richie teaches tennis, and Chas loosens up. Chas rides in the ambulance when Royal dies, and the family buries him under an epitaph he wrote himself about dying to save them from a sinking battleship.
Post-credits scenes
No. The Royal Tenenbaums has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch The Royal Tenenbaums
The Royal Tenenbaums is streaming on HBO Max in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.6/10, Rotten Tomatoes 81%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Rushmore, before The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
- Chronological order: after Rushmore, before The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
Cast
- Gene Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum
- Anjelica Huston as Etheline Tenenbaum
- Ben Stiller as Chas Tenenbaum
- Gwyneth Paltrow as Margot Tenenbaum
- Luke Wilson as Richie Tenenbaum
- Owen Wilson as Eli Cash
- Bill Murray as Raleigh St. Clair
- Danny Glover as Henry Sherman
- Seymour Cassel as Dusty
- Kumar Pallana as Pagoda
- Alec Baldwin as Narrator (voice)
- Grant Rosenmeyer as Ari Tenenbaum
Directed by Wes Anderson.