Tenenbaums <Instant Download>

When we call a family "the Tenenbaums," we mean they are brilliant, competitive, emotionally stunted, and deeply loyal beneath a glacier of passive aggression. We mean they have a history too heavy for a single dinner table.

In the final shot of the film, as Royal’s funeral procession moves through the streets, the surviving Tenenbaums pile into a taxi, holding a Dalmatian mouse and a forgotten falcon. They are still strange. They are still hurt. But they are together. tenenbaums

Anderson shoots the Tenenbaums’ pain like a fashion spread. Royal fakes stomach cancer to win back his family; Margot removes her wig and fake eye (a prosthetic she doesn't need) to reveal her vulnerability; Richie cuts his hair and beard while Elliott Smith’s “Needle in the Hay” plays on the soundtrack. The film argues that pain, if framed correctly, can be beautiful. When we call a family "the Tenenbaums," we

Watch it. Or re-watch it. Just keep a tissue handy for the scene where Richie tells Margot, “I’ve had a rough year, dad.” Actually, keep a box. They are still strange

And that, ultimately, is the legacy of the name: that family is a strange, sad, beautiful farce—and we wouldn't have it any other way.