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The Royal Tenenbaums

The Royal Tenenbaums is the 2001-year US dramatical comedy directed by Wes Anderson, starring Gene Hackman and narrated by Alec Baldwin. It is the account of the unpredicted gathering of the Tenenbaums. Mr. Tenenbaum together with his wife, Etheline, had been blessed with three children; although they later separated when their children were still young. The two ones were a wealthy couple living in New York City with their children before their split. After the split, Royal checked in an expensive hotel where he had stayed for 22 years without caring about the fate of his family.

The movie starts with Tenenbaum explaining to his children: Chas, Margot (adopted by Royal and Etheline), and Richie that he and their mother are separating. This scene then changes into a brief elucidation of the way every child becomes successful at the very young age. Chas began purchasing a real estate as a teenager and seems that he has the almost natural comprehension of financial matters. He is a mathematician and a business genius. Margot has become a writer and won the Braverman award worth $ 50,000 while being in the ninth grade. Richie has emerged as a junior champion tennis player and has gone on to win the United States’ national championships for three years consecutively.

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Almost all these memories of three children are afterwards wiped out by twenty years of the failure, betrayal, and disaster, which their father mostly contributes to. The film is not about loyalty, but about a dysfunctional family (Scheuer & Scheuer 277).

Three Tenenbaum’s children live as adults being not as successful as while they were young. Their life is disastrous, and they are not like they have been previously. As an adult, Chas (his role is played by Ben Stiller) is still in a mourning period as his wife died six months earlier in a plane crash. He is still attempting to come to the terms with her death while raising their two sons Ari and Uzi on his own.

 Margot (the role is played by Gwyneth Paltrow) is unfathomable and stoic.  She suffers from the writer’s block as well as from the unsuccessful marriage to Raleigh (the role is played by Bill Murray), a neurologist being much older than she is. She secretly smokes and regrets about her successful past. She spends most of her time locked in the bathroom and indulged into the excessive smoking. Raleigh is carrying out a research on a subject referred to Dudley Heinsbergen. Richie (the role is played by Luke Wilson) has also retired from the professional tennis. Apparently, a mysterious emotional breakdown during an important match marked the end of his tennis career. As a result, he has decided to travel around the world for the whole year on a cruise ship.

Richie (Luke Wilson) has retired from the professional tennis after a mysterious emotional meltdown during a crucial match because of Margot and Raleigh having got married the day before. He has been traveling around the world on an ocean liner for a year. The children’s mother, Etheline, works as an archaeologist. Henry Sherman (the role is played by Danny Glover), Etheline’s accountant, falls in love with Etheline and asks her to marry him. She does not refuse, but she instead asks him for more time to think about it and her marriage with Royal. The family’s longtime servant, Pagoda, gives the news to Henry that Etheline is considering to get married to Henry. Royal runs out of money and, as a result, is evicted from the hotel. Due to this he is ashamed of telling his family the truth; thus,  he decides to win them back.

Royal decides to win his family back and creates a deceitful plan to persuade his wife and his children to come back and live with him. He meets with his wife and convinces her that he has the terminal stomach cancer and, hence, wants to correct his mistakes before his imminent death. She hesitantly decides to stay with him and accepts Henry’s proposal, after which she calls all the children home. Royal borrows from a hospital worker a large amount of medical equipment to convince the family about his terminal illness.

Chas and his two sons move in back with Royal and Etheline. Royal becomes close with his two grandchildren. Chas is having the paranoia about his children’s safety being portrayed when Royal takes the grandchildren away. Royal takes the children out for a dog fighting and shoplifting and upon their return Chas rebukes him for putting the life of his sons in danger. After this, Royal tells Chas that he is having a nervous breakdown.

Margot also returns home after having heard all that was happening at home. She craves a change from her marital life to Raleigh. Chas is offended due to the return of his father, as he does not trust him. Howevre, Margot is  not interested in this. Richie is more loving and sympathetic towards him. Margot has an affair with a novelist Eli Cash (the role is played by Owen Wilson) and she is brought to the surface. Eli is Richie’s best friend, and he is aware that Richie is secretly in love with Margot and informs her about this. Royal finds out about Maggot’s affair; he disapproves of the way she treats her husband Raleigh.

Meanwhile, Raleigh tells Richie of his suspicions about Margot’s affair. Together they hire a private detective to follow her. Henry investigates Royal’s cancer claims and discovers that this all has been a farce as the hospital is closed. The doctor is false, and the medication in the prescription bottle is just tic tacs. Royal is extremely jealous of Henry, and after a quarrel between them Henry confronts Pagoda and informs his family that Royal’s cancer illness is a farce. Etheline is infuriated by this; he throws Royal and Pagoda out of their house. The two ones manage to get a room in the YMCA. They are hired as the elevator operators at the hotel that Royal has been evicted from.

Meanwhile, the private detective reveals the numerous things about Margot’s past that were totally unknown; for instance, about her chain smoking habits, her lesbian affairs in Paris, a nine-day marriage in Jamaica, and many lovers in New York including Eli. After learning this, Raleigh becomes depressed and only comments about her smoking, but Richie is almost destroyed by the news. He locks himself in the bathroom, shaves most of his hair and his beard, and slits his wrists. Later on, he lies in a pool of blood, and Raleigh rushes him to the hospital. All the Tenenbaums are shaken by this incidence as they are sitting in the waiting room. Raleigh confronts Margot before leaving, and he finally he leaves her. Later on, Richie runs away from the hospital and finds Margot in his room listening to music. She admits that she was also in love with him.

Royal agrees to grant Etheline a divorce, which he had denied her for many years. He realizes that he wants the happiness for his family. Etheline and Henry are pushing through with their wedding, and, on the wedding day, Eli heavily doses with Mescaline crashing his car onto the side of the house and almost running over Ari and Uzi that were moving out of the way by Royal. Nevertheless, he kills the children’s pet. Chas is enraged by this. He chases Eli through the house damaging the property, and they finally collapse and acknowledge they require the assistance to leave the past behind.

The wedding party and the rest of the family disperses as they remedy the damages caused by Eli and Chas. Royal buys a Dalmatian from the firefighters for Chas to replace the deceased pet.  The two ones reconcile as Royal shows sympathy towards Chas’ grief as a widower. Chas also thanks to his father for saving his sons. Henry and Etheline are married two days later in the judge chambers.

After these incidents, Royal lives happily with his family, especially with Chas and his two grandchildren (Flanagan 4). Margo manages to release a new play, which is based on her family experiences, Eli checks into a rehab, and Raleigh publishes a book on Dudley’s condition. Richie manages to start a junior tennis program. Royal suffers a heart attack at the age of 68 and dies in Chas’ presence. The entire family gathers during his funeral and recalls the recent past. Royal is buried under a gravestone, which features a passage describing the way he has “saved his family from the wreckage of a sinking battleship.” After the burial, the family lives together.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

The Life Aquatic film is an American comedy, particularly drama, which is written, directed, and co-produced by Wes Anderson and starring Michael Gambon, Williem Dafoe, Anjelica, Huston, Seymour Cassel, Noah Taylor, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Bud Cort and Jeff Goldbum. Steve Zissou (played by Bill Murray), a documentarian and oceanographer, is working in the sea on his newest documentary film, while his partner and best friend, Esteban du Plantier (Seymour Cassel), has been killed by a mysterious and mythic creature, which Zissou refers to as “Jaguar Shark.”

 Zissou is initially seen at a gala premiere of his latest documentary, a story of the depressing voyage, in which a mysterious ocean giant is seen, that which swallowed his friend. As his further project, the main hero Zissou is set to document of this creature’s destruction. He and his team set off with the mission of hunting down the creature. He raises the funds for this expedition to hunt down the shark and make a new film.

The crew sets off for a wild expedition on the survey ship called Belafonte, and Zissou takes along his estranged wife, a journalist, and a copilot that claims to be Zissou’s son, Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson). The crew also includes a safety expert, a Brazilian musician, a screen editor, a script girl, a camera operator, and a number of free university interns from the story bound to North Alaska University. Ned Plimpton is presented as an accurate gentleman from the south whose mother just recently has passed away. His mother led him to believe that Zissou is being his real Dad.

 Ned and Zissou met at the movie premiere where Ned decides to take a leave from his post as an airplane pilot driver in Kentucky to go with his father’s expedition. He decides to fund his documentary with the money he has inherited. Jane Winslett-Richardson, a reporter, travels with the crew to record a piece on Zissou. She is apparently pregnant having her boss’s child that is being married. Both Zissou and Ned are smitten by Jane and there is a constant rivalry between them.

While in the process of hunting down the Jaguar shark, the pirates attack the crew and leave them without any money to finish their work. Zissou directs the ship into unprotected waters, which causes him to be described as a selfish maniac. He also single handedly engages the pirates into a gun battle as they escape with the money.

This attack makes Ann-Marie Sakowitz (the role is played by Robyn Cohen) and some of the other interns to abandon the expedition. As a result, they receive bad marks for the subject for the course. Zissou’s crew instigates an attack on the pirates to get back the cash and to rescue Bud Cort, who is also referred to as “bond company stooge", and who has been hired by Zissou’s producer. In the process, they also manage to rescue Zissou’s archenemy, Hennessey, a very rich, successful, and suave man being Eleanor’s ex-husband.

The expedition also faces another impediment when the ship’s helicopter crashes and injures Zissou and seriously hurts Ned. Eleanor informs Jane that Ned actually was not able to be Zissou’s son as he is sterile. Ned passes away as his injuries are serious. Eventually, Zissou manages to locate the shark but opts not to kill it, as it confirms the living that he had feared to be insignificant. This moves Eleanor, and she starts loving Zissou again. This documentary becomes a success, and Zissou has got an award regaining the respect worldwide.

Wes Anderson managed to turn the movie into a multifaceted triumph: a high-seas adventure, a film-industry satire, and a touching allegory concerning the meaning of the family. All have been held together by the vividly realized characters and the few French- Caribbean David Bowle covers (Itzkoff 36). Wes Anderson wanted the sea life in the movie to be truly out of this world. Thus, all the creatures in the film were created using the stop motion animation; nevertheless, the real actors were all great in the water as they got into their underwater roles and seemed to fully enjoy the dive experience (Romano 38). This movie is a postmodern humorous story regarding the middle-aged captain, Steve Zissou, being one on the edge. The movie documents the way he endures life as well as the crisis: a marital discord, the middle age angst, meeting his supposed son, the attack by pirates in the high sea, lacking money to fund his movies, and the death of his dear ones. His expedition to destroy the ‘jaguar shark’ to take the vengeance for his best friend demises the changes to the familial venture establishing the family resolution with his wife and the rest of the crew (Colatrella 78)

Rushmore

Rushmore is a 1998-year comedy drama film, which is co-written by Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson being also the director of the film. The movie revolves around fifteen year old Max Fischer (the role is played by Jason Schwartzman), a strange teenager, his friend Herman Bloom (the role is played by Bill Murray), and their mutual love towards Rosemary Cross (the role is played by Olivia Williams), an elementary school teacher.

Max is a teenager who does not fit into even himself. His father is a barber but Max asserts that he is a neurosurgeon. His mother passed away when Max was only seven years old. He is admitted to Rushmore Academy, which is a privileged boys’ school for a scholarship after having written a play. There, however, he turns out for and even creates the numerous student activities including the clubs for fencing and beekeeping, which makes him perform poorly in the academics and, hence, he is threatened with the expulsion.

 Max meets a grade school teacher, Rosemary Cross, who has lost her remarkably talented husband. Max becomes angry with Rosemary after she has made the friends with Mr. Bloom. Mr. Bloom endows the school and likes Max’ exceptional innovative and daring audacity. Bloom also falls in love with Rosemary. He has a lasting frown on his face. He fights with his oafish and snotty twin sons being in a wrestling team. In the film, he is seen at the pool party as smoking, drinking, and sitting on his own, across the pool from the party. He climbs up to the high diving board showing off his Budweiser beer shorts and the cigarette in his mouth. He dramatically walks to the edge, pauses, and jumps inauspiciously into the water. When he is making a graduation address to Rushmore student body, he employs the analogies being the best awkward. For instance, he says that, “take dead aim on the rich boys, get them in the crosshairs, and take them down.”

Bloom gets attracted to Max’s grip of reality after he has attended one of his plays, which are well-received as gangster dramas. Shortly after they have met, Max asks Bloom if this was true that he had been in Vietnam. Bloom confirms this fact. In one instance, Max breaks the ground in the aquarium without the approval from school, which causes his expulsion from Rushmore after which he is enrolled into a public school, Grover Cleveland High. In his new school, he tries to take part in mixed activities, which generate the mixed results. Margaret Yang, a fellow student, attempts to engage Max but he disregards her. He receives the support from Bloom and Rosemary at his new school. Max gets a friend in the new school, Dirk (the role is played by Mason Gamble).

Upon learning about the affairs between Bloom and Rosemary, Dirk informs Bloom as a payback for the rumor that Max had started regarding his mother. After this, Bloom and Max become the enemies and devise the plans for taking up the revenge to one another. Bloom, a married man, soon starts competing for the love of Rosemary with Max. They even start to fight, which resorts into a number of dirty tricks. Max snitches to Bloom’s wife regarding his affairs with Rosemary. This results to her suing Bloom for a divorce. Bloom checks in a hotel room where Max sets off bees competing for Rosemary’s love. Bloom retaliates by running over Max’s bicycle. As the revenge, Max cuts the brake line on Bloom’s car, and Bloom has him arrested.

Max and Bloom finally decide to resolve their differences as they are riding together in a hospital elevator after having  visited struggling Rushmore director, who has had a stroke. In the elevator, Bloom puts whiskey in a soft drink can. He has a cigarette in his mouth as they talk about Rosemary with Max; he lights the second cigarette telling Max that Rosemary is “too fucked up.” As they exit the elevator, Bloom has two lit cigarettes between his lips, and Max enquires whether he is all right. After this, Bloom pauses and then tells Max that he is a bit lonely.

Ultimately, Max decides to give up fighting for Rosemary’s love and informs Bloom that he is no longer interested in her as even though he (Max) wins her, she would still lover  Bloom. After this, Max experiences a period of depression, which leads to his dropping out of school. He stays away from all people and becomes an apprentice in his father’s barbershop. When Dirk visits Max to get an excuse from him, he gives him a Christmas gift and informs him that his former headmaster was in the hospital. So he suggests Max visiting him as Bloom would also be there.

Bloom and Max meet there; they are friendly to each other. After this, Max discovers that Rosemary has broken up with Bloom. He is also able to assist Dr. Guggenheim to come out of coma. These incidents give Max hope, and he goes back to school. He also begins the friendship with Margaret Yang, which he had shunned before. He also attempts to get Rosemary into a relationship with him but she rejects him again, and Max decides to give up. He then attempts to get Rosemary to reconcile with Bloom. His first endeavor is fruitless, however, he manages to get them reconciling after he has invited them to the performance of his play, which he had written.  He makes sure that they sit near each other. In the final scene, Bloom and Rosemary appear to resolve their issues. They look at each other mysteriously as they are dancing at the play during the party. Margaret Yang and Max have become a couple once again. In the dramatic finale of Rushmore, Max presents the play about Vietnam War that includes the strings of jargon generated and the clichés from the war. The play has the unoriginal outcome of the US hero played by Max himself, and the VC hero played by Margaret Yang in a Mexican standoff. In the play, Max asks Margaret to marry him. Just a bit earlier, Rosemary has asked Bloom if he liked the play, and he said that he had not. Bloom then says that he hoped that it had had a better ending. Bloom does not clearly enjoy his life, and he has the common nastiness.

Hamilos summarizes Rushmore as a movie about obsession as well as of the relationship between Bloom and Max (7). The relationship is a driving force for this movie as the two ones go from love to hate and back again (7). According to Hamilos, Max is 15 years old, while Bloom is being at the age of 50. However, despite the age difference, they compete for the love of Rosemary (Wes & Wilson 2). They do dirty tricks - everything to win the love of Rosemary being recently widowed. The comedy is used in the entire film to heal the division between the characters and to reestablish these relationships across the lines of generation and class.