Royal Tenenbaums [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Wes Anderson's follow-up to the cult hit Rushmore is an off-kilter comedy set in a whimsically rendered New York City. In a brisk prologue, the audience is introduced to the precocious Tenenbaum children: Chas, a financial whiz who makes his fortune by his teens; Margot, the adopted middle child and an award-winning playwright by ninth grade; and Richie, a teenage tennis champ with a secret crush on his sister. Presiding over this eccentric brood are Royal (Gene Hackman), their callous and conniving father, and Etheline (Angelica Huston), their attentive if oblivious mother. Flash forward 22 years later: Royal, long banished by his wife, finds himself broke and about to be homeless. Faking an illness, he finagles an invitation to return home, setting the stage for an impromptu reunion with his estranged children. Now past their premature primes, the children are a mess. Chas (Ben Stiller) has become a wreck after the recent death of his wife; chain-smoking Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) wallows in misery after her early flameout as a playwright; and Richie (Luke Wilson) has become most famous for a career-ending breakdown during a championship match. Further complicating matters are Henry Sherman (Danny Glover), Etheline's accountant and pining admirer, Eli Cash (Owen Wilson), the Tenenbaums' childhood friend, and Raleigh St. Clair (Bill Murray), Margot's husband. Royal's stay proves eventful as accounts are settled and relationships are reassessed, often in surprising ways. This funny and ultimately affecting movie made its world premiere at the 2001 New York Film Festival.