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The Rewatchables ·

The Royal Tenenbaums

year 2001decade 00sdirector Wes Andersongenre Comedygenre Drama
host Chris Ryanhost Andy Greenwald
All 16 categories

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 1:27:58

“All right, Bomber”

Chris Ryan: Richie and Chaz's exchange about writing a suicide note after regaining consciousness is a favorite.

The film

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Directed by Wes Anderson · Comedy

110 minutes

IMDb Find on JustWatch Find on Rotten Tomatoes
Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

29:48

Roger Ebert's review
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:29:48Read transcript
  • The film was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 2002 Oscars. — Chris Ryan
  • Gene Hackman won a Golden Globe for playing Royal Tenenbaum. — Chris Ryan
  • The episode states that Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars. — Chris Ryan
  • The stated score is summarized as evidence that Ebert was a fan of the film. — Chris Ryan
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37:11

Most Rewatchable Scene

Margot’s background-file montage (one participant’s final choice)

Margot’s background-file montage (one participant’s final choice)

In the discussion (17)
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:11Read transcript
  • The pre-credit character introductions establish the family through a stylized montage before the plot begins. — Chris Ryan
  • Royal's blunt response to Margot's childhood play is funny because he refuses to soften his criticism for a child.
  • Margot meeting Richie at the pier is elevated by Nico's version of These Days and the slow-motion entrance. — Chris Ryan
  • Royal's first secret meeting with Ari and Uzi is praised for his awkward introduction and inappropriate compliment about their mother. — Chris Ryan
  • Richie's tennis collapse uses the announcers and seventy-two unforced errors to make his emotional breakdown visible. — Chris Ryan
  • Every Eli Cash scene is considered rewatchable, including the mescaline introduction and his affected novelist persona. — Chris Ryan
  • The montage of Royal and his grandsons scrapping, yelling, and mixing it up is a principal repeat-watch choice. — Chris Ryan
  • Henry exposing Royal's fake cancer through tic tacks and cheeseburgers is singled out. — Chris Ryan
  • Richie confronting Royal outside the house leads to the exchange that Royal was never dying but is going to live. — Chris Ryan
  • Royal's confession to Etheline changes rapidly from a false death claim to a request for time, making the scene uncomfortably funny. — Andy Greenwald
  • Hackman and Angelica Houston play the confession in a wide shot without relying on close-ups. — Andy Greenwald
  • The Margot background-file montage is praised for combining exposition, visual detail, the private investigator, and Bill Murray's deadpan response. — Chris Ryan
  • Richie's suicide attempt is called the most affecting scene Wes Anderson had shot, even though one participant does not find it casually rewatchable. — Andy Greenwald
  • Elliott Smith's Needle in the Hay makes the suicide sequence especially difficult and powerful. — Andy Greenwald
  • Margot and Richie's tent conversation is selected as an exceptionally tender moment. — Andy Greenwald
  • The opening montage is praised for introducing a large unfamiliar world without the drag associated with long television introductions. — Andy Greenwald
  • Margot's background-file montage becomes one participant's final choice because of its effortless style, detail, exposition, and Ramones song. — Chris Ryan
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47:59

What’s Aged the Best?

The soundtrack and trusting Wes Anderson

The soundtrack and trusting Wes Anderson

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:59Read transcript
  • The soundtrack remains central, including the Clash, Bob Dylan music from Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and Vince Goraldi's Peanuts music. — Andy Greenwald
  • The soundtrack creates nostalgia for an Upper West Side New York that the participant did not literally experience. — Andy Greenwald
  • Luke and Owen Wilson's separate performances are praised as unusually strong and precisely suited to their different energies. — Andy Greenwald
  • Luke Wilson's mournful stillness is contrasted with Owen Wilson's manic external energy. — Chris Ryan
  • The Eli Cash New York Times Magazine cover is singled out as a visual detail that has aged well. — Chris Ryan
  • Henry and Etheline's relationship remains sweet, recognizable, and naturally evolving. — Andy Greenwald
  • Touchstone and producer Barry Mendel's choice to fund and trust Anderson is praised because the resulting film retained its detailed vision. — Andy Greenwald
  • The recreated book covers and the way they fill the frame exemplify production choices that became iconic. — Andy Greenwald
  • The physical comedy still works alongside the film's more cerebral humor. — Andy Greenwald
  • Henry's sudden fall at the archaeological site is chosen as the film's purest physical laugh. — Andy Greenwald
  • One concluding answer is the soundtrack. — Chris Ryan
  • The other concluding answer is Barry Mendel and the broader decision to invest in Wes Anderson. — Chris Ryan
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55:56

What’s Aged the Worst?

Royal calling Henry “Coltrane”

Royal calling Henry “Coltrane”

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:56Read transcript
  • Margot and Richie's romance is initially flagged because they were raised as siblings, although the movie emphasizes that she is adopted and avoids showing a sexual relationship. — Andy Greenwald
  • On rewatch, one participant feels less troubled by the romance than memory suggested because the movie leaves it unresolved. — Andy Greenwald
  • The film's childlike treatment of sex and romance is compared with Rushmore and Moonrise Kingdom. — Andy Greenwald
  • Making the romance more explicit would turn the film into something closer to The Dreamers, which the participants reject as a fit. — Andy Greenwald
  • The Charlie Rose-like interviewer groping Margot now reads as an unsettlingly accurate dark detail. — Chris Ryan
  • Royal's racial language toward Henry, especially calling him Coltrane, interrupts one participant's modern rewatch. — Andy Greenwald
  • The discussion places Royal's speech in Anderson's affection for Hackman's 1970s roles while still rejecting the line as cute complexity. — Andy Greenwald
  • The wedding climax is criticized as a slapstick collision of plot lines after the emotional climax in Margot and Richie's tent. — Andy Greenwald
  • The staging of Eli's crash and the dog in the wedding sequence is considered awkward and overcomplicated. — Andy Greenwald
  • The emotional release of Chaz telling Royal he has had a rough year partly redeems the ending. — Andy Greenwald
  • The final explicit answer is Royal calling Henry Coltrane. — Chris Ryan
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1:04:50

Casting What-Ifs

Gene Wilder and Michael Caine were considered for Royal before Gene Hackman accepted the role.

Gene Wilder and Michael Caine were considered for Royal before Gene Hackman accepted the role.

This discussion recalls a choice from an earlier episode.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:50Read transcript
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1:09:47

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Kumar Pallana as Pagoda

Kumar Pallana as Pagoda

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:47Read transcript
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1:11:02

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Seymour Cassel as Dusty

Seymour Cassel as Dusty

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:11:02Read transcript
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1:11:26

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:11:26Read transcript
  • Ben Stiller is the initial and final winner. — Andy Greenwald
  • Gwyneth Paltrow is proposed as an alternate because she makes an active choice in every moment, even while doing very little. — Andy Greenwald
  • The participants clarify that Paltrow's nomination is praise, using Al Pacino's Vincent Hanna as the category's positive model. — Chris Ryan
  • Anderson's centered compositions, limited close-ups, and concern for movement constrain conventional overacting. — Andy Greenwald
  • Stiller operates at a different frequency from the rest of the cast but makes that intensity work.
  • The board-game-closet confrontation with Hackman is the main example of Stiller pushing the performance.
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1:13:22

Apex Mountain

Luke and Owen Wilson; Gwyneth Paltrow (substantial case)

Luke and Owen Wilson; Gwyneth Paltrow (substantial case)

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:22Read transcript
  • The category is jokingly renamed Mount Wilson for this episode. — Chris Ryan
  • Owen Wilson released Zoolander, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Behind Enemy Lines in 2001. — Chris Ryan
  • That three-film year is offered as evidence of Owen Wilson's career peak. — Chris Ryan
  • Gwyneth Paltrow is proposed as an alternate Apex Mountain winner. — Andy Greenwald
  • Margot Tenenbaum became an iconic visual character recognizable enough for repeated Halloween costumes. — Andy Greenwald
  • Paltrow's controlled performance conveys Margot's backstory and emotional truth in each appearance. — Andy Greenwald
  • Her run from Emma through The Royal Tenenbaums made her one of the largest actresses in the world. — Chris Ryan
  • The Talented Mr. Ripley and her Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love are cited as part of that run. — Chris Ryan
  • The Royal Tenenbaums is proposed as Paltrow's last great movie before a career increasingly built around celebrity and franchise appearances. — Chris Ryan
  • The final stated agreement returns to Mount Wilson for the Wilson brothers. — Chris Ryan
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1:17:46

Half-Assed Internet Research

Locations, literary and film influences, announcer voices, cast scheduling, Hackman's behavior, Bill Murray, the real...

Locations, literary and film influences, announcer voices, cast scheduling, Hackman's behavior, Bill Murray, the real house, period products, and Margot's cigarettes

In the discussion (17)
Approx. transcript time · 01:17:46Read transcript
  • The address 111 Archer is a real Harlem location near 144th Street. — Chris Ryan
  • Royal's unnamed hotel is represented by the Waldorf Astoria. — Chris Ryan
  • The film presents itself as an adaptation of a book that never existed, including visible page turns. — Chris Ryan
  • The discussion cites Louis Malle, the French New Wave, and Orson Wells among the film's influences; other names in the segment are sensitive to transcription errors. — Chris Ryan
  • The Magnificent Ambersons is identified as an especially strong influence on The Royal Tenenbaums. — Chris Ryan
  • Wes Anderson and Andrew Wilson voiced the announcers during Richie's tennis collapse. — Chris Ryan
  • An internet claim says Danny Glover, Luke Wilson, and Owen Wilson declined Ocean's Eleven roles to appear in this film; the speaker explicitly labels the claim uncertain. — Chris Ryan
  • The shoot was arranged around the cast's limited availability. — Chris Ryan
  • Gene Hackman was reportedly combative on set, with a possibly apocryphal story that Bill Murray confronted him. — Chris Ryan
  • Bill Murray's small performance is praised for understanding Anderson's tone and elevating limited screen time. — Andy Greenwald
  • Murray is described as difficult to contact because he works without a conventional agent. — Andy Greenwald
  • The production found the real house after foreclosure and rented it before the buyer renovated it. — Andy Greenwald
  • The reported rent equaled what the buyer had paid for the house. — Andy Greenwald
  • Recognizable New York places and real products remain visible even inside the film's carefully designed world. — Andy Greenwald
  • Chas's office uses real iMacs, and Royal shoplifts gummy bears rather than genericized products. — Andy Greenwald
  • Margot's cigarette brand is reported as an Irish brand discontinued in the late 1970s or 1980s. — Andy Greenwald
  • The participants joke that Margot's brief smoking style anticipates vaping. — Chris Ryan
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1:22:21

Recasting Couch

Robert Downey Jr. or John Goodman as a present-day Royal

Robert Downey Jr. or John Goodman as a present-day Royal

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:21Read transcript
  • The participants focus on recasting Royal rather than the siblings. — Chris Ryan
  • Robert Downey Jr. is proposed as a major actor who could use a substantial non-franchise role later in his career. — Chris Ryan
  • The idea is qualified because Downey may still seem too young to be the aging family patriarch. — Andy Greenwald
  • The uncertainty is whether Downey could still make Royal's emotional turn credible after years of movie-star franchise performances. — Andy Greenwald
  • Iron Man 3 is cited as a possible recent example of a genuine emotional response from Downey. — Andy Greenwald
  • John Goodman is the second proposal because he can be physically imposing while handling stage presence, drama, and comedy. — Andy Greenwald
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1:24:06

Picking Nits

Chas’s tracksuits, Richie’s suicide timing, Royal’s moral turn, and the Raleigh St. Clair subplot

Chas’s tracksuits, Richie’s suicide timing, Royal’s moral turn, and the Raleigh St. Clair subplot

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:06Read transcript
  • Chas and his sons wearing tracksuits constantly is not explained within the film. — Chris Ryan
  • Anderson reportedly explained the tracksuits as clothes that keep Chas ready to move at any moment. — Chris Ryan
  • The funeral's black tracksuits make the unexplained wardrobe choice worthwhile as a visual joke. — Chris Ryan
  • Richie saying he will kill himself tomorrow and then acting immediately is questioned. — Chris Ryan
  • The offered explanation is that saying the intention aloud and recalling Margot makes the decision immediate while the razor is available. — Chris Ryan
  • The panel questions why Royal flips from bad to good without a more explicit transition. — Andy Greenwald
  • The counterargument is that spending time with the family is itself enough to change Royal, without a scripted speech explaining it. — Andy Greenwald
  • The film's dense visual detail never becomes excessive enough that either participant would remove an element. — Andy Greenwald
  • Raleigh St. Clair and Dudley's subplot may be unnecessary to Margot's discovery, but it remains welcome as part of the film's larger tapestry. — Chris Ryan
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1:27:58

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie

“All right, Bomber”; “Is that a tick-tac?”

“All right, Bomber”; “Is that a tick-tac?”

In the discussion (17)
Approx. transcript time · 01:27:58Read transcript
  • Richie and Chaz's exchange about writing a suicide note after regaining consciousness is a favorite. — Chris Ryan
  • Royal asking whether anyone wants burgers in the cemetery is selected. — Chris Ryan
  • Royal telling the boys that their mother was terribly attractive is called the movie's second-biggest laugh. — Chris Ryan
  • The announcers' description of Richie's tennis collapse is selected. — Chris Ryan
  • Royal's funeral response, 'All right, Bomber,' is offered as a Best Quote candidate. — Chris Ryan
  • Eli regretting that he and Richie did not use drugs together earlier is selected for its absurd sadness. — Chris Ryan
  • Royal's claim that his closeness to death changed him, answered by Richie's reminder that he was never dying, is repeated as a favorite. — Chris Ryan
  • Eli asking whether a reviewer especially thinks he is not a genius is selected. — Andy Greenwald
  • The premise of Eli's Custer book is the participant's all-time favorite quote from the movie. — Andy Greenwald
  • Eli's drug-related dialogue, including Wildcat, is treated as endlessly quotable. — Andy Greenwald
  • Royal describing Eli as an old grizzly bear is recalled in the final quote rundown. — Andy Greenwald
  • Eli's opening narration about the frisklating dusk light is recalled in the final quote rundown. — Andy Greenwald
  • Royal's line about dog blood on his face is named during the Best Quote discussion. — Andy Greenwald
  • Royal's gravestone claim that he died rescuing his family from a destroyed sinking battleship supplies the final laugh and captures the character. — Andy Greenwald
  • Chaz's admission that he has had a rough year is singled out for emotional force. — Andy Greenwald
  • Dusty's fake-doctor instruction to push fluids and continue stomach-cancer medication is chosen for pure comedy. — Andy Greenwald
  • Danny Glover's Henry asking, 'Is that a tick-tac?', is recalled as a Best Quote candidate. — Andy Greenwald
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1:32:46

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

No ten-episode Netflix version; a six-hour HBO version acceptable to one participant

No ten-episode Netflix version; a six-hour HBO version acceptable to one participant

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:32:46Read transcript
  • A ten-episode Netflix adaptation is rejected. — Chris Ryan
  • One participant says he would accept a six-hour HBO version. — Chris Ryan
  • The other participant wrote that the adaptation question should be burned to the ground. — Chris Ryan
  • Both ultimately oppose remaking a film they consider seamless and perfect. — Andy Greenwald
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1:32:59

Probably Unanswerable Questions

How do the Tenenbaums continue funding their lifestyle?

How do the Tenenbaums continue funding their lifestyle?

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:32:59Read transcript
  • The participants ask how the family funds its lifestyle after its members fall on hard times. — Andy Greenwald
  • Royal's earlier litigation income and outright ownership of the house are proposed as partial answers. — Andy Greenwald
  • Chas and Richie are proposed as the family members most likely supplying continuing funds. — Andy Greenwald
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1:34:20

Who Won the Movie?

Gene Hackman (two votes); Luke Wilson (one)

Gene Hackman (two votes); Luke Wilson (one)

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:34:20Read transcript
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Gene Hackman
Speaker not identified
Gene Hackman
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More from the conversation

The film is reported to have earned approximately $50 million domestically.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:15Read transcript
The film is described as a major influence on early-2000s clothing, music, and visual taste among the participants' New York peers.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:50Read transcript
Its curated design is treated as a fantasy of memory that combines several decades of New York objects and styles.
Approx. transcript time · 00:06:38Read transcript
The dense objects and design details build a family history while exposing the emptiness of a life based only on accumulated affect.
Approx. transcript time · 00:13:26Read transcript
The family structure attracts the two only-child participants because each sibling is both bound to and distinct from the group.
Approx. transcript time · 00:15:13Read transcript
The Royal Tenenbaums is framed as a turning point between Anderson's early personal films and later attempts to balance violence, adulthood, and childhood.
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:04Read transcript
The film is compared with Magnolia as each director's third feature and as a large-budget expression of childhood memory and emotional trauma.
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:56Read transcript
Music supplies much of the emotional force beneath the film's stylization, especially in Richie and Margot's scenes.
Approx. transcript time · 00:23:52Read transcript
Richie is proposed as the family's emotional center and sin-eater, while Royal remains the plot's instigator.
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:45Read transcript
Its mixed early reception is contrasted with its later reputation as a lovable major work.
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:10Read transcript
Anderson's ability to make this personal ensemble film is contrasted with the later practice of moving indie directors quickly into franchise work.
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:26Read transcript
Hackman's low pay and long schedule are used to show the logistical challenge of assembling the star cast.
Approx. transcript time · 00:33:44Read transcript
The participants place Royal among Hackman's major performances, call it a fitting late-career role, and reflect on his retirement.
Approx. transcript time · 00:36:19Read transcript