Rushmore (1998) // The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Wes Anderson is easily one of my favorite directors.  His unexpected views are always a delight.  Each of his films are a personal favorite.  Here are only two. 

Rushmore (1998)
Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzmann) is a sophomore at Rushmore Academy. Preferring to engage in extracurricular activities, Max finds himself on academic probation. Rushmore is threatening to fail him. Max befriends the father of his fellow students, Herman Blume (Bill Murray) and an odd relationship begins. Being expelled from Rushmore doesn’t keep Max from falling in love with his former teacher, Ms. Cross (Olivia Williams). It’s unfortunate, because Herman does too.

The understated performances make this movie. Schwartzmann and Murray play against each other wonderfully. They are essentially the same character at a different stage in life. Max is a naïve, overachieving and often pompous young man while Herman is a wealthy pompous old fart—both are looking for validation and their place in the world. Engaged in tug-of-war for the same woman’s heart, Schwartzmann and Murray’s roles are simultaneously odd, fun, and delightfully nuanced.

Writer/director Wes Anderson has created a beautiful film with understanding and sympathy for the adolescent—albeit characterized—experience. Every element of the film falls into place creating an intricate weave of cinematography, dialogue, settings, and score. It’s quite an experience.

This was the second of Anderson’s films for me. I watched Rushmore only after falling in love with The Royal Tenenbaums.  The Tenenbaums were most first exposure to Wes.  For that reason, this film is my favorite.

***

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

The Tenenbaums are unlike any family you’ll ever know and this is their dysfunctional story.

Alec Baldwin narrates the story of Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman). Royal and his wife Etheline (Angelica Huston) have three children: Chas, Ritchie, and Margot. Royal's lack of interest in his children is the cause of his separation from Ethel. He leaves; as the years pass the children have become prodigies under their mother’s guidance.

Many years later and after hearing the Tenenbaum accountant is moving in on his wife, Royal feigns terminal cancer in effort to regain all that he has lost.

The diagnosis of cancer helps bring the errant former prodigies home. Chas (Ben Stiller) started buying real estate in his early teens and had a preternatural understanding of international finance. Now, a widower, he is struggling to come to grips with the loss of his wife in a tragic plane crash. Chas has become a safety freak and returns to the Tenenbaum family with his two boys in tow after deciding their apartment needs additional sprinklers and security. Ritchie (Luke Wilson) was a tennis phenom at an early age. After losing a game, Ritchie inexplicably leaves the game. He spends his days on a boat wandering on the high seas (for no apparent reason) until the news reaches him. Margot—she’s adopted—was a brilliant playwright and a smoker at twelve. She returns to the family home upon hearing of Ritchie’s arrival.

Oh… it gets better my dear friends. The colorful supporting cast includes Owen Wilson, Danny Glover, and Anderson muse, Bill Murray in memorable roles.

The Royal Tenenbaums is extremely well played. Writer/director Wes Anderson’s screenplay is top-notch—subtly outrageous and quirky. Physical comedy, agile dialogue, and brilliant chemistry are just the beginning. Add an unusually eye-catching production including oddly framed chapter introductions and assaulting opening credits, and plotlines advancing to the tunes of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Clash, The Velvet Underground, and The Rolling Stone… well, we got emotional resonance, too.

As I see it, Anderson essentially let’s Hackman and his cohorts run (cleverly) amok. But amid all the seeming chaos is the realization that family—no matter the dysfunction—is what life is all about.