The film itself is quite funny, but what really has me busting a gut is "The Peter Bradley Show" on disc 2.

Also, in the scene where he tells Dudley to make his block sculpture the same as his. The reaction that Murray gives is CLASSIC!

I think Wes Anderson is perfect at mining this perfectly incongruous humor that works by being funnier the more you think about it -- it exists in Bottle Rocket and in Rushmore but not as much as it does in The Royal Tenenbaums. The reason for this I think is Anderson's confidence to really bring so much more to the screen, including the ability to create an awesome performance out of Gene Hackman (who is what Murray was to Rushmore in this film).

I, too agree, the funniest part is when Hackman refers to Danny Glover's character as a "Coltrane" -- to do so would mean that Royal needs to have at least a rudimentary understanding of what African-Americans have brought into culture and why would he be so ignorant knowing that? It boggles the mind so much your only response is laughter.

to this film, as well as Amelie which employs a lot of the same style and humor (not coincidentally, I assume) -- especially both opening sequences which whizz so many jokes by that's it hard to pay attention to them and listen to what the narrator says.

To me this goes in the subtle, witty, smiles and chuckles category, not in the gut busting, instantly hilarious one. Because often times, you have to think back at a particular situation and at what was said to go from "hmmm, that was odd" to "lol! that's funny". So I agree that it does get funnier on 2nd viewing. highly enjoyable.

my fave line... at the end when Royal's "doctor" is examining Richie's eye after he's elbowed (not sure exactly how it goes) but the advice:

"if it spreads to the other eye, call me"

I laughed my ass off to the quick cut to the scene of gene hackman and his grandsons running like a bat out of hell accross a busy highway!!!

The finger chop scene waas funny to me because of the reactions.

Danny Glover falling into the ditch had me laughing for 15 minutes.

Danny Glover kissing Angelica Houston was funny because it was uncomfortable and kinda gross. Glover is no sex symbol.

Do yourself a favor and check out the lesser known Anderson, Brad. Next Stop Wonderland will probably get you good. Happy Accidents will too, when it comes out on DVD.

"im sorry about your mother, she was a terribly attractive woman"

"that car has a dent in it"

"damnit! that's the last time you stab me!"

quite a few "laughable" lines. most of the rest is just amusing (which tends to have a longer shelf-life)

actually i have a question about the film:



i LOVED the turn the film took at that point. i wish wes & owen would take on something dark like that.

Surely, you at least found this funny:

The only part I found remotely funny was the scene with Hackman and the grandchildren running around town.....

eli's art creeped me out

LOL.

I love this movie. The humor is not blatant like most straight-up comedies. But its more... I dunno... It just keeps me rollin' though.

Bill Murray as St. Clair is just insanely hilarious. Just looking at him and his beard and glasses keeps me giggling.

yes...i picked that up. he said:



maybe im thinking about it too much, and it was meant to be ironical :x

I love the scene when Richie is in the bathroom. I think it's one of the best scenes ever put on film. It's a perfect combination of everything Music, lighting, acting, shot selection and the flash backs. The whole thing with the shaving off all of his hair and beard off was genius. Then His final line and then the act itself are just really kind of surreal.

One line that gets me every time that hasn't been mentioned yet is near the beginning when Eli is on the phone with a person who wrote an article about him:

"Why do you go out of your way to say somebody's NOT a genious? Am i especially NOTa genious?"
*PAUSE*
"You didn't even have to think about it did you?"

Classic..

WHen I first saw this movie in theatres I was taken aback because I wasn't expecting it to be so dark. But upon my second viewing after buying the DVD I fell in love. One of the few movies that when it finishes I want to watch it again from the beginning.

i had no idea what he was talking about the first time i saw it. definetely a movie that i had to watch twice to get what was going on.

first time was for performances (and i must say, paltrow was criminally ignored. utterly fantastic job on everyone's part)
second time for plot (i couldn't figure out who the ***** eli was the first time i watched it)
third is for the little things (everything!)

I just watched it again tonight and I have to say it gets better and better every time, especially when you know what Royal is going to say- his delivery is just so perfect!

One more Royal funny line can be found below in my sig.

Wes Anderson talks about it in the commentary track. The line is an homage to an older movie (I forget the name, but he mentioned that it served as a major influence for Tenenbaums.) But he also tried to justify it just by saying Richie got the idea to do it tomorrow, then was overwhelmed by the flashback of memories shown, and just went and did it. And if someone is in a suicidal state, you can't really expect them to be acting rationally.

The mood in that scene was just awesome. I think it took everyone in the theater by surprise.

I laughed so hard when I saw that painting that I literally scared the woman in front of me. My friends and I were the only ones that were howling. I'm not sure if they just didn't find it funny or maybe needed glasses , but everyone kept looking around at us trying to figure out why we were laughing and possibly wondering, "Should we laugh, too? Maybe just a small snort? A full laugh? You think? Okay."

Here's a great scene that no one has mentioned yet. Just after Bill Murray's character gives Dudley the block test.

Murray, talking in a soft voice into his tape recorder - "Dudley suffers from a rare disorder combining symptoms of amnesia, dyslexia, and colorblindness, with a highly-acute sense of hearing. There is also evidence of -"

Dudley (standing down the hall in another room) - "I'm not color blind, am I?"

Well, I watched the movie with my sister and her Husband. I was laughing through most of the movie and they were just kind of sitting there not paying much attention it seemed. No reaction from them at all.

The funny thing is though, I was at my parents house this past weekend and my mom was like "whatever you do, don't rent The Royal Tenenbaums, it's a horrible movie.". I I didn't have the heart to tell her that I bought the DVD earlier that week so I just kinda said "ok, I won't rent it" since I won't, I already own it. Ho hum...