The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

This ambitiously original ensemble comedy follows a gifted but dysfunctional New York family reunited when the estranged patriarch feigns terminal illness. Immaculately written and brilliantly performed, especially by Hackman, it is an extraordinary fable that restores faith in American cinema.

The critic finds the film a dazzlingly original piece of work, more accomplished than Rushmore, with smart screenplay, superb sight gags and a fabulous ensemble cast. Hackman's performance stands out as particularly strong amid the offbeat eccentricities and poignant moments.

Anderson's film is a rare beauty alive with humanity and crippling sadness, earning its joy by making an ancient cliché crackle anew. The director's obsession with failure becomes tightly bound with hope, turning death into a vehicle for joy and second chances.

The review finds the film a deliciously absurdist comedy that demonstrates impressive artistic progression and should garner acclaim. It singles out the strongly controlled deadpan style and the emotional heft provided alongside the quirky scenario.

The spaghetti-stranded plot is expertly untangled by Wes Anderson in this family of geniuses tale. The result is verbally astute and visually hilarious, with intricate set design worth pausing to admire.

The film is wittier, richer and more enjoyable than major Oscar contenders of its year, a blood brother to Rushmore. It excels in its literary influences, irony masking deeper sincerity, and heartfelt comedy of unrequited love and disappointment.

Anderson delivers a star-studded, ambitious ensemble comedy-drama that overreaches in the service of one of the year's warmest, funniest films. The director's affection for his eccentric characters and ideas shines through despite the messy scope.

The critic highlights the film's distinctive literary conceit, wry narration and eccentric visual style as a sui generis comedy that delights through singularity and charm rather than conventional laughs, while noting its melancholy and nostalgic tone.

The film defined Anderson's house style of bespoke design, symmetrical compositions and literary voiceover, standing as his archetypal achievement despite modest awards recognition at release.

The dysfunctional Tenenbaum family makes for a highly entertaining spectacle of vignettes and tableaux, with Gene Hackman's superlatively funny performance turning callous malice into goofy mischief.

Watching the film is like being spirited away to an extremely sophisticated yet completely alien reality with a hermetic, forbidding style. It is a bleak farce set in an imaginary New York-ish city, densely imagined down to the smallest detail.

The film exists on a knife edge between comedy and sadness with big laughs and quiet touching moments. It stands in amazement as the dysfunctional family members unveil strategies to get attention, carve out space, and find love, understanding and sympathizing with them.

The film is a daylight answer to the Addams family, revising all theories of domestic harmony with its dysfunctional clan. For all the funny glamour of its retro styling, the communal oddity slowly hits home as more than a freakorama.

The critic finds that Anderson overreaches with an ambitious family saga that traps its story in a brittle, artificial style restricting emotional depth, though the ensemble cast and production design receive praise.

The critic praises the witty and intelligent character drawings and the film's high IQ, bundles of wit and oodles of fun. He complains that it lacks emotional depth, being a quirk away from real life so that it is not possible to feel moved by the characters.

The critic admires Anderson's peculiar tone and refusal to conform but finds the film over-designed and under-felt, with characters reduced to quirks and little genuine emotion or laughter beyond Hackman's lively performance.

Anderson's serio-comedy expands his distinctive sensibility with a stellar cast and ambitious scope but results in a vastly uneven film due to its literary format, stylised visuals and shifting tone. It contains brilliant episodes amid some that feel clipped or fake, though Hackman provides strong cement.

The movie is at once endearing and unbearably show-offy, the product of a sensibility formed by age-inappropriate reading. Gene Hackman's performance nearly rescues the film from its own whimsy, but whimsy and the director's self-admiration ultimately triumph.

The film is a mixed bag of humor, drama and wit that works more often than not. Hackman's performance as the selfish yet charming Royal stands out, along with the story's enduring relevance.

The critic finds the film a waste despite its buzz and cast, with most characters stuck in ruts and the script failing to deliver after setting up an eccentric family. Imagination leaks out, leaving a gluttonous mess with a whiff of self-congratulation.