Sorry Collider but The Royal Tenenbaums is the best Wes Anderson movie
Yup you heard that right. Today one of my favorite film media outlets provided us (the fans) with another from worst to best ranking of film filmography. This time the honoree of such Collider ranking was Wes Anderson. A man, who coincidentally is one of my favorite directors ever!
So, without any hesitation and with a heavy dose of… oh this is going to be good, I clicked on the article. And as expected I agreed with Collider (well more or less) but I have troubles admitting the best movie on this ranking. Matt Goldberg named The Grand Budapest Hotel as the best Wes Anderson movie, while my pick for the best movie was on the second best spot. The Royal Tenenbaums of course.
The Grand Budapest Hotel lands at the top of the list because it shows Anderson taking the biggest step forward in his career, said Matt Goldberg in his explanation and continued… The movie is unafraid to be sad, dour, whimsical, wily, and it’s the full showcase of an unforgettable filmmaker at the top of his game.
While I agree with the film being sad dour and whimsical, I consider those things to be more true about The Royal Tenenbaums. Look, everyone’s opinion and perception of a movies is clearly different but, I wonder why Anderson’s third directorial effort was so close to the top, but not actually on the top.
My explanation and reasoning for putting The Royal Tenenbaums on the top is because… its quite simply the best. Why? Well.. For starters, I’m going to state the obvious and say that it’s the last film co –written with his childhood friend Owen Wilson. They both received their first Academy Award nomination (for original screenplay) but sadly they have not collaborated on a script since. I miss their humor and quirky lines, and frankly that humor can elevate any god damn character.
And speaking of characters, I think that The Royal Tenenbaums has the best shaped and developed characters in any Wes Anderson Movie. Sorry Grand Budapest Hotel, but it’s true. From the Tenenbaum children (and their adult version), to the supporting characters like Dudley Heinsbergen (Stephen Lea Sheppard) and Padoga (the late Kumar Pallana).Oh did I mentioned how good gas Gwyneth Paltrow in this movie?
Yeah Gene Heckman and Anjelika Huston were fantastic, but so was Gwyneth. Ive never been a fan of her acting to be honest, but this movie had me converted. I became a believer in her talent for a while. And then she became a stuck up snob, started making shitty movies and then I gave up on her again.
Yeah… Around 25 sets were created during photography but I want to talk about the deeper stuff here. How a weird, dysfunctional family was depicted in this movie. Sure, Anderson had the themes of family relationships, adultery and dysfunctional family in his other films (Moonrise Kingdom and The Darjeeling Limited most notably) but not quite like this. I also loved how the decline of the genius human beings in that dysfunctional family was depicted too. With obscurity and lots of humor. What once was a source of pride, over time has become an embarrassment and just a faded memory. But you see… on the peak of their fame, and success they were not spoiled, entitled or careless. So they didn’t become spoiled, entitled and careless adults either (in Wes Anderson’s world).
I can go on and on about The Royal Tenenbaums but I think you get the idea. Watch it again. Watch this movie and see for yourself how good it is. In other worlds… Collider is wrong and I’m right ahaha.
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My favorite WA movie, too.