Review – The Royal Tennenbaums

Rarest of the rare are movies that get four stars from me on first viewing. But this one does it. Clever story. Well-crafted script. Talented, ensemble cast. And to top it all off, this is one of those wonderful films that can incorporate quirkiness – with a vaguely Edward Gorey-esque flavor – without wasting half its screen time calling attention to its own jokes. And the soundtrack is worth it all by itself. The story – loosely – is the tale of three child prodigy siblings grown up to strange adulthood. The whole crew is reunited by their father’s less-than-legit terminal cancer. No single paragraph could even begin to do justice to the tons of little touches that give this movie its appeal. Buy the disc