The Royal Tenenbaums poster

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Film · 1h 50m · Rated R

Comedy, Drama

A family of former prodigies navigates two decades of betrayal and disaster with witty, absurdist humor.

Melancholy and darkly comic, with dry wit. A comfort watch at a measured pace. Emotionally it is heavy.

Streaming on Max.

The Royal Tenenbaums parents guide

No surprises for an R: some innuendo or implied sex and some violence.

Scare
Not scary
Jump scares
None noted
Gore
No gore
Violence
Some violence
Some fighting or peril.
Sex and nudity
Mild
Mild means innuendo, or sex implied off screen, with no nudity.
Language
Moderate
Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

What is The Royal Tenenbaums about?

Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary --- all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father's fault. "The Royal Tenenbaums" is the story of the family's sudden, unexpected reunion one recent winter.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

Bittersweet. It earns its ending, but not everyone gets what they want.

Cast and crew

Directed byWes Anderson
StarringGene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.