Gene Hackman shines as Royal Tenenbaum, the patriarch of a family he abandoned years earlier, only to return and try to worm his way back into the lives of his ex-wife and adult kids (Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson and Gwyneth Paltrow). Filled with Wes Anderson's dry humor and bit characters, this movie is probably still my favorite entry in the director's canon (although Grand Budapest comes awfully close to topping it), because I just can't get enough of Hackman's sketchy and sleazy Tenenbaum. He pulls cons left and right, but he doesn't apologize for who he is, and you have to admit you'd probably get a kick out of hanging out with him if he was your dad too. Sure he's a liar and a cheater and a thief, but hey- he's also Gene Hackman in a tailor made role for his particular charms, which is the only reason this character works. I still can't believe he wasn't nominated for an Oscar for this.
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