History Film / TheRoyalTenenbaums

%%* BlackComedy
%%* BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins: Eli Cash invokes this, though he's white.
%%* BrotherSisterIncest: Subverted with Richie and Margot.

%%* BungledSuicide: [[spoiler:Richie]]

%%* GeneHunting: Margot attempts this at 14. It doesn't end well.

* GeniusBurnout: an ''entire family'' of them: Etheline raises her children to be focused on achievement, which ends up crippling their personal lives. Financial whiz Chas succeeds in business as a teenager, but is overcome by paranoia after his wife's death; Playwright Margot loses her inspiration and cheats on her husband with a long string of men (and women); and tennis champ Richie can't overcome his feelings for Margot (his adopted sister), and tanks his entire career after she marries. They eventually find redemption with help from their ne'er do well father Royal (himself a once-successful lawyer who got disbarred and briefly incarcerated).

%%* YoureNotMyFather: Royal pulls a variant on Margot, and gets it thrown back in his face.
%%-->'''Royal:''' (''talking about Henry'') He's not your father.
%%-->'''Margot:''' Neither are you.

''The Royal Tenenbaums'' is a 2001 {{comedy}}-{{drama|tropes}} film directed by Creator/WesAnderson and written by Anderson and Creator/OwenWilson, and probably the first Wes Anderson film to really hit the mainstream.

* ShoutOut: A brother and sister living in a museum (hiding inside, at night) is more-or-less the plot of Creator/ELKonigsburg's ''Literature/FromTheMixedUpFilesOfMrsBasilEFrankweiler''. Minus the {{Squick}}, as it was a children's novel.

* DysfunctionalFamily: The Tenenbaum's are one of the most prominent examples of this trope in a Creator/WesAnderson film.

''The Royal Tenenbaums'' is a 2001 {{comedy}}-{{drama}} film directed by Creator/WesAnderson and written by Anderson and Creator/OwenWilson, and probably the first Wes Anderson film to really hit the mainstream.

* {{Hypocrite}}: He is enraged at the idea of Etheline hooking with Henry behind his back, even though he admits to Padgoda that he has had girlfriends behind Etheline's back.

** Chas is playing on this - his wife's death has clearly affected him deeply and turned him into an OverprotectiveDad, but he doesn't seem openly depressed. He becomes this for a few minutes [[spoiler: after chasing down Eli for running down his dog]].

* OverprotectiveDad: Chas, since his wife died. Somewhat justified when he refuses to let them hang out with Royal, for fear that he'll hurt them the way he hurt Chas.

* FootDraggingDivorce: Royal and Etheline never actually divorced, though at the start of the film they haven't seen each other for years. [[spoiler:One of the things Royal does to make amends to his family in the end is present Etheline with divorce papers so she and Henry can get married.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Royal manages to patch things up with his family, even when it comes to light he doesn't actually have cancer. Chas bonds with him, Margot writes again, and Richie finally acts on his romantic love for his adopted sister. The film ends with Royal's death and funeral.]]

%%* BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins: Eli Cash.

* ShoutOut: A brother and sister living in a museum (hiding inside, at night) is more-or-less the plot of Creator/ELKonigsburg's ''Literature/FromTheMixedUpFilesOfMrsBasilEFrankweiler''. Minus the {{Squick}}, as it was a children's novel. Another literary reference: a character in J.D. Salinger's ''Franny and Zooey'' is endlessly in the bathtub, smoking, like Margot.

* TheUnfavorite: Margot, who is never allowed to forget that she's adopted, and that she's not a "real" member of the family.

* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Henry and Etheline.

* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler: Eli]] accidentally runs over [[spoiler: Chas's dog. Chas]] doesn't take it well.

* BeardOfSorrow: Richie grew a beard after he has an emotional breakdown on the tennis court, and keeps it throughout the film to highlight his depressed nature. [[spoiler: He shaves it right before attempting to kill himself. Afterwards, things start to look up.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Royal manages to patch things up with his family, even when it comes to light he doesn't actually have cancer. Chas bonds with him, Margot writes again, and Richie finally acts on his romantic love for his adopted sister. The film ends with Royal's death and funeral.]]

* BullyingTheDragon: Royal's attempts to antagonize and bully Henry out of the house royally backfire when Henry reveals [[spoiler: his deceased wife ''died'' of stomach cancer so he easily calls his bluff.]]

* FinancialAbuse: Royal was stealing money from Chas's safety deposit box, and the latter sued him for it.

* FirstFatherWins: Royal patches up his relationship with the kids, but [[spoiler: doesn't remarry his ex though.]]

--> '''Narrator:''' All memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums had been erased by two decades of betrayal, failure and disaster.

** Margot is this for most of the movie, and finally gets out of it [[spoiler: after kindling a romantic relationship with Richie and Royal takes her out for lunch.]]

* ImportantHaircut: Richie cuts his hair and shaves in a detailed scene, and we're treated to one flash cut to his pre-shave appearance [[spoiler: just before a suicide attempt.]]

* IronicEcho: On learning of Margot's many, many, many infidelities, Raleigh can only respond with a stunned declaration about how "she smokes", something else she kept from him. Later, after confronting Margot [[spoiler: in the wake of Richie's suicide attempt]], Raleigh asks her for a cigarette. Stunned, Margot responds with "You don't smoke." Raleigh bitterly retorts "I know that."

* LimitedWardrobe: One of the few live-action examples. Every Tenenbaum child has a uniform that doesn't really change throughout the film/their entire lives. Chas's retirement of his wardrobe is a sign of character growth: WordOfGod says that he dressed himself and his sons in bright red track suits at all times so that if there was an emergency in a crowded place, they could spot one another easily. [[spoiler: By retiring this, it shows he's going to stop being so overprotective of his kids.]]

* NotBloodSiblings: Deconstructed in that Richie still knows romantic feelings for Margot are unacceptable by society's standards, and his inability to deal with them or tell her how he feels contributes to his failing mental health. [[spoiler: After Richie's suicide attempt, she comes to realize how much she cares for him too, and they manage to become happy together.]]

* MustMakeAmends: Royal in the last third of the film. [[spoiler: He finds a lawyer to finalize divorce papers with his wife, refers to Margot as his "daughter" and supports her writing a play about him, brings Chas along on his outings, and comforts Richie.]]

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Though it takes a while for [[spoiler: Royal]] to find out. [[spoiler:He spends several weeks making amends to his family, including his ex-wife, and takes Chas with his grandsons on exciting outings. Then he develops a heart attack, dying in the ambulance. By then, however, everyone visits his grave]].

* TakingTheBullet: Chas's sons Ari and Uzi reveal that [[spoiler:Buckley, their dog, stood in the way before Eli could run them down at the wedding. Sadly, this ends up killing Buckley]].

* TwoDecadesBehind: One can be forgiven for assuming the film takes place in the late '70s or early '80s, until the year "2001" is shown on [[spoiler: Royal's tombstone]].

* InsertDouble: The hand that is seen with the BB lodged between its knuckles is not Ben Stiller's, but Andrew Wilson's, Owen and Luke's brother. When they were children, Owen fired a BB gun at Andrew's hand and the BB has been there ever since.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Royal treads the line between this and full blown {{Jerkass}}.

''The Royal Tenenbaums'' is a 2001 {{comedy}}-{{drama}} film directed by Creator/WesAnderson and written by Anderson and Creator/OwenWilson.

Probably the first Wes Anderson film to really hit the mainstream, it was nominated for [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward the Oscar for best original screenplay]].

The movie depicts Royal's attempts at getting closer to his family after failing to pay rent at the Lindbergh Palace Hotel. He fakes stomach cancer to gain their sympathy and access to the family home. Like most Wes Anderson films, it is marked with quirky sets and costumes, as well as much deadpan humor.

A kind of sister movie to Anderson's later project ''Film/TheLifeAquaticWithSteveZissou'', which has nearly identical cast and a similar (though much more dream-like) atmosphere.

* AdultFear:
** Shortly after getting kicked out of your house for a very good reason, you find out that your favorite son attempted suicide, and you just barely catch him to talk about it. It's one of the few times in the movie that Royal is shown in a sympathetic light.
** Chas is overly protective of his kids after his wife died, and naturally freaks out when one of them comes home with dog's blood after a day with Royal. This comes to a head at the wedding, where Eli [[spoiler: accidentally kills Chas, Ari and Uzi's dog.]]

* {{Fingore}}: The top half of Margot's right ring-finger was accidentally cut off during her stay with her biological family. It was replaced with a wooden prosthetic, and led to a consequential [[FingerlessGloves alteration of her gloves]].

* Royal Tenenbaum (Creator/GeneHackman): former lawyer. The patriarch, distant and boozing, treats his kids very inequally. Is separated from...
* Etheline Tenenbaum (Creator/AnjelicaHuston): archeologist. Spent most of her early life schooling her three genius children...
** Chas Tenenbaum (Creator/BenStiller): Financial wizard. Went into business for himself at an early age selling Dalmatian mice. Had his father disbarred for stealing bonds out of his safety deposit box.

* EyeScream: Downplayed. [[spoiler:When Chas is chasing down Eli for killing Buckley, Richie attempts to break up the fight, leading to Chas elbowing him in the eye. This is revealed to inflict only minor damage on Richie's cornea, but we still see him wearing protective gauze and a special pair of glasses where the lens over his normal eye is regular and the one over his injured eye is that of sunglasses]].

* {{Narrator}}: The narration is by Alec Baldwin.