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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.

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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1:09:47

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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1:32:46

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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1:34:20

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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