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So, just who are the Royal Tenenbaums? "Royal" Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) and wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston) had three children - Chas (Ben Stiller), Margot (Gwenyth Paltrow) and Ritchie (Luke Wilson) - who seemed headed for brilliance but peaked too early. Chas started buying real estate in his early teens and rose high in the ranks of international finance, Margo won a writing grant in ninth grade and became a playwright sensation, while Ritchie would go on to win the U.S. Nationals in tennis. But two decades later and the Royal Tenenbaums are falling apart; the elder Tenenbaums get divorced, and all the memories of brilliance quickly fade for the siblings, torn apart by lies, failures, betrayal, death and, perhaps, too much love. But now Royal is dying, and will the family be able to pull itself back together?

I suppose what most impresses about The Royal Tenenbaums is that like all great movies, the key melodrama the plot centers around - Royal's terminal illness (or is it?) - becomes secondary less than halfway through the film. By the time the surprisingly emotional payoffs come at the climax, we scarcely care any more about the machinations of the story. It becomes about characters and ideas, with Anderson's expert use of location, pace, setting, music and performance always working the service of his story's themes. Somehow he, along with longtime co-screenwriter and actor Owen Wilson manage to be both pop and classical and satiric and nostalgic at the same, but with none of the hip irony and precociousness that undermines most of today's young auteurs. These aren't two kids who are too smart for their own good.

The Royal Tenenbaums also has the biggest cast Anderson has ever worked with, and all give terrific performances. Yes, no one looks alike, but that oddly works to the film's advantage as well. I'm still surprised Hackman wasn't nominated for an Academy Award for his performance; he's far better here than he was even in his Oscar-winning turn in Unforgiven. The criminally-underused Anjelica Huston makes a long- awaited turn to quality parts as the no-nonsense Etheline, and even the sometimes grating Ben Stiller and Gwenyth Paltrow play to their respective strengths. (Who else would cast the beautiful Paltrow as a depressive, one-fingered playwright with raccoon eyes and a predilection for incest and nicotine?)

Doubtless many will be turned off by The Royal Tenenbaums, but this is just one of those films that you either you like or you don't, and a filmmaker that either you get or you don't get. I got it. And it's funny that The Royal Tenenbaums final epitaph may yet prove to be an unforeseen case of life imitating art. One of the film's key themes is that of the creative individualpeaking too early and all the failure and self- doubt that comes with that awareness. It's not hard to see Anderson now in the same predicament; let's just hope the same thing doesn't happen to him.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Presented in expansive 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen, if ever there was a movie to illustrate the evils of pan & scan, this is it. I just can't imagine watching The Royal Tenenbaums cropped by nearly 40 percent to fit TV-friendly 4:3 dimensions. Wes Anderson and his director of photography Robert D. Yeoman don't waste a single shot; from edge to edge the frame is filled with minute details that prove integral to Anderson's storytelling technique and our understanding of the film. Don't even think of watching this one in pan & scan, and thankfully no cropped version is included at all.

As for the transfer itself, I was lucky enough to catch this theatrically last fall, and this presentation is a very close approximation. Anderson favors warm, bold colors throughout, and this transfer is so vibrant it almost veers into oversaturation, yet there is no apparent bleeding or smearing of colors. Blacks are nice and solid with excellent contrast, and while some scenes boast whites that may be a little hot, detail does not seem to suffer. Sharp and nicely three-dimensional, shadow delineation remained strong even in some of the more surreal, dank sequences. The print is free from blemishes and while there is a bit of grain in some scenes which appears intentional, I noticed little edge enhancement nor much in the way of compression artifacts. Some may be turned off by the harsh look of the film at times, but I found this to be a generally excellent presentation that accurately conveyed Anderson and Yeoman's intended style

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Presented in both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround, The Royal Tenenbaums is not that sonically adventurous but it does have a few tricks up its sleeve. This is certainly Anderson's biggest-budgeted film yet, and it is very well recorded despite being shot on so many real-live locations. With so much ADR, it is impressive that it sounds as natural and real as it does. Dynamic range is nice and smooth with both the dialogue and the many folk-rock songs sounding pleasing and full. Overall separation among the fronts is noticeably distinct, although surround use is somewhat inconsistent. There are a few discrete effects that heighten key moments, but overall this is a subtle, quiet mix.

I noticed little real difference between the DTS and Dolby Digital tracks, and either mix suits the film just fine. The DTS sounded a tad more open in terms of ambiance and imaging, but little else. The .1 LFE track is just average throughout and on either track. This is just not a powerful mix, but at least Criterion and Buena Vista included both so you can decide for yourself.

Also included is an English 2.0 Dolby surround track, and despite no labeling on the package nor even an option in the menus, there are English subtitles included. However, I was unable to locate any true Closed Captions at all.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Given filmmaker Wes Anderson's long-standing relationship with The Criterion Collection, it is no surprise that they have collaborated yet again for The Royal Tenenbaums. And like their first team-up together Rushmore, this is an excellent two-disc set that shows the kind of care and dedication rare in most big studio DVD releases these days.

Let's start with disc one, whose only extra is an excellent new screen-specific audio commentary with director Wes Anderson. Perhaps it would have been nice to have some extra participants here (how about CO-screenwriter Owen Wilson?) Anderson does a great job going solo. He's a bit all over-the-place, but that fits the film - we get bits of everything but the kitchen sink - from the technical and the creative, Anderson is appreciative of his collaborators but thankfully free from the usual fluff and praise that mars many a solo director commentary. And as this is a very visual dense film, Anderson's insight and inspiration on film's vast details only adds to our appreciation of the film. This one does what all the best commentaries should, and isn't to be missed by Anderson-ites.

Moving on to disc two, we have With the Filmmaker, an excellent 25-minute documentary by the directorial team of Albert Maysles, Antonio Ferrera and Larry Kamerman. This is the kind of feature I tend to favor; almost a pure video diary free of the usual talking heads save for some off-the-cuff segments with Anderson. Maysles, Ferrera and Kamerman also benefited from having extensive access to the set both before and during production which gives us a fly-on-the-wall perspective. While some believe that filmmaking is about the big gestures, I think it is all in the small stuff, which this documentary ably proves.

Those looking for a more traditional take on the making-of process will enjoy the Interviews with Gene Hackman, Gwenyth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, Danny Glover, Ben Stiller and Bill Murray. All appear to be typical EPK interviews recorded on the set during shooting and mixed with the usual behind-the-scenes making-of material, but at least it's a great, intelligent cast. Shot in often very noisy full frame video, each runs 2-3 minutes a pop, and can be accessed individually or via a "Play All" function.

From the mockumentary department we have a 18-minute The Peter Bradley Show segment, which I take is supposed to be a joke? "Mr. Bradley" interviews five bit players from various Wes Anderson films (there was supposed to be six, but one ends up never showing up; we just see his empty chair and a microphone wire) on the art and craft of playing a bit part, and what they look for in a script. As one comments, it's all about "How much time I get onscreen, and how many intonations of one line I get to speak." I thought this was very funny, and can only assume it is supposed to be. The joke does wear thin after awhile, however, but you have to admire the chutzpah of it all...

Up next are some Cut Scenes, which run less than 2 minutes and only really include two scenes. Presented in anamorphic widescreen, these look good but no explanatory text nor optional commentary is offered. Given Anderson's self- confessed penchant for "overshooting," the lack of something more substantial here is disappointing. Much better is the Scrapbook, which is one of the more extensive still galleries I've seen in a long while on a DVD. Compromising over 200 stills, we get plenty of material that inspired or was used directly in the film. "Stills" is a cool slide show of wrap party photos taken by James Hamilton, "Covers" features all the amusing Tenenbaum book covers as seen in the film, "Margot" and "Murals" are collections of paintings by Eric Chase Anderson done for the various Tenenbaum family rooms, "Storyboards" a clutch of annotated script pages by Anderson, and "M.O." features a Studio 360/Public Radio International 8-minute radio show segment on artist Miguel Calderon along with stills of the artist's vaguely disturbing work and more words from Anderson. You can also discover two pretty easy-to-find easter eggs here with some funny outtakes, if you're clever...

Rounding out the package are two theatrical trailers in anamorphic widescreen and encoded as a continuous video stream, plus not one but two collectible booklets. A 12-page fold-out includes more illustrations by Eric Chase Anderson that inspired the film, plus another 14-page fold-out with more illustrations, a liner essay by film critic Kent Jones, chapter stop listings, tech info on the transfer and DVD production credits. And last but not least, special note should be made of the packaging; featuring not one but two covers. The outer cardboard sleeve features the film's movie poster presented like a book, with a dual-keepcase inside that includes a custom cover by Eric Chase Anderson. Nice to finally have a choice in packaging and that should appease one and all.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

Unlike most Criterion titles, we do get some minor ROM extras...a custom interface and some weblinks. Alas, that's it.

Parting Thoughts