Gene Hackman plays Royal Tenenbaum, a charismatic yet self-centered divorcée whose three gifted offspring were successful prodigies as children before succumbing to eccentricity, neuroses and depression. It's a comedy. Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Luke Wilson bring the three wounded adult Tenenbaums to sympathetic life with deadpan humour and a remarkably clever script. When Royal has to move out of the hotel where he has been living, he devises a plan to steal his ex-wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston) away from her current suitor (Danny Glover) by faking terminal illness. Honestly it’s a comedy — and it’s really, really funny.

Despite the apparent tension behind the scenes during filming (Bill Murray had to intervene and has described Hackman as "difficult...but one of the greats") Gene Hackman is wonderful as Royal Tenenbaum, precisely the kind of suffer-no-fools tough guy with a vulnerable core he was born to play. Though his first two features (Bottle Rocket and Rushmore) had a distinct visual style and some playful characterisations, Wes Anderson’s obsession with art direction and stylised storytelling really came to the fore in Tenenbaums, proving him to be one of the few modern day auteurs (a title even his detractors will begrudgingly admit). This is the movie that cemented Anderson as a talent to watch, and Hackman's last truly great role that introduced him to a new generation.