Entertainment
The Most Perfect Dark Comedy Ever Made Is A Reunion
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Star-studded movies aren’t always all they’re cracked up to be because big Hollywood egos clash, keeping the cast from working in harmony. But would you believe that the best dark comedy ever made was an ambitious independent film starring some of the biggest names in silver screen history? That movie is The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and you can stream it on Prime Video today to experience the indie darling that made director Wes Anderson into a household name.
The premise of The Royal Tenenbaums is that a proud patriarch is now terminally ill and wants to reconcile with his estranged family. That family includes former child prodigies who left their mark on a world that has now largely forgotten them. Now, everyone has a chance to come together and be a family once more, but the weight of their collective failure threatens to tear them apart, once and for all.
All The Stars Are Here
The cast of The Royal Tenenbaums has more big names than you can shake a tennis racket at, including Ben Stiller (best known for Tropic Thunder) and Gwyneth Paltrow (best known for Shakespeare in Love). The cast also includes both of Hollywood’s boy-next-door siblings: Luke Wilson (best known outside this movie for Old School) and Owen Wilson (best known outside this movie for Wedding Crashers). If those aren’t enough major names, The Royal Tenenbaums also stars Bill Murray (best known for Lost In Translation) and Danny Glover (best known for Lethal Weapon), with Alec Baldwin (best known for The Departed) serving as our narrator.
In this cast of legendary actors, one man stands out: the late, great Gene Hackman (best known for The French Connection) as Royal Tenenbaum. His performance is subtle and nuanced, and he perfectly creates the larger-than-life patriarch that everyone in his family has a complicated relationship with. It’s one of the finest performances in Hollywood history, and Hackman earned a well-deserved Golden Globe for Best Actor–Musical or Comedy.
Being Quirky Pays Off
It took a big budget to cast all these stars in a single movie; fortunately, that was an investment that paid off in a big way. Against a budget of $21 million, The Royal Tenenbaums earned $102.4 million, which was quite a haul for a quirky indie movie from a very twee director. Speaking of the director, the major success of The Royal Tenenbaums helped establish Wes Anderson as one of Hollywood’s most visionary directors, and he would go on to deliver such charming hits as Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
When The Royal Tenenbaums came out, critics fell in love with this quirky Wes Anderson classic. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 81 percent, with critics cheering how the director managed to blend his trademark brand of artistic whimsy with genuinely poignant and moving storytelling. While the entire cast is great, critics also singled out the late, great Gene Hackman for a powerhouse performance that anchors an entire cast full of big names.
Laughs, Tears, And Vibes
Personally, I love The Royal Tenenbaums for its impeccably weird vibes. It’s a movie that refuses any kind of easy categorization, often slipping from comedy to drama in the space of a single line delivery. This delicate combination of savory and sweet emotions helps make each punchline that much funnier and each poignant moment that much more mellow.
Plus, it’s very rewarding to watch all of the big names in this film disappear so completely into their roles. In other movies, each would be a leading actor stealing the spotlight for themselves; here, everyone’s ego takes a backseat so that these powerhouse performers can do some of the greatest character acting of their lives. The result is a perfect paradox: a dark comedy full of stylish whimsy, and a meditation on grief and loss guaranteed to make you laugh out loud.
Will you agree that The Royal Tenenbaums is the best dark comedy ever made, or would you rather have an awkward family reunion than watch this to the end? The only way to find out is to ask the family servant to fire up the remote and stream this film on Prime Video. You may want to consult with your doctor first, though, because this classic Wes Anderson film has about 200 percent of your daily recommended amount of twee humor.
