Royal Tenenbaums, The

MPAA Rating: R

Entertainment: +1 1/2

Content: -3 1/2

Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) and his wife, Etheline (Angelica Huston), head a family of geniuses. Chas (Ben Stiller) was a major financial wizard by his teen years, Richie (Luke Wilson) won the U.S. Tennis Championship three years in a row, and adopted daughter Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) was a gifted playwright in the ninth grade. But much of their glory has faded in the last twenty years and all of them blame Royal. Now penniless, Royal returns with news of his impending death. Chas has become increasingly paranoid about the safety of his two sons since the death of his wife, and also returns home. As all the children return to the family brownstone, old wounds are reopened and dysfunctional relationships re-examined in this quirky comedy. Despite the star-packed cast, crowds may be sparse for this darkly humorous character study.

Margot is shown as not only adulterous but also promiscuous as she's seen with a variety of men implying sexual activity. She's also shown kissing and fondling a topless woman. Richie admits loving his adopted sister and the implication of incest is discussed. Richie also attempts suicide and bloody cuts on his arms are shown. Chas demonstrates a strong anger for his father's actions over the years, but eventually admits he needs to forgive. Although not condoned, family friend Eli (Owen Wilson) is often shown with drugs or under the influence. Frequent foul language, explicit sexual content and drug use dethrone THE ROYAL TENEBAUMS.

Preview Reviewer: Paul Bicking
Distributor: Buena Vista (Touchstone/Disney), 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521

Summary
The following categories contain objective listings of film content which contribute to the subjective numeric Content ratings posted to the left and on the Home page.

Crude Language: Many (26) times Mild 16, moderate 10

Obscene Language: Many (12) times F-word 3, s-word 8, other 1

Profanity: Several (5) times Regular (GD 3, J), exclamatory once (OMG)

Violence: Several times Mild and moderate (minor stabbing, implied finger accidentally cut off, suicide attempt bloody cuts on arms, pushing, fall down stairs, car crash, man thrown over wall, dog hit by car)

Sex: Implied few times (man climbs out of womans bedroom window, woman in underwear with several different men)

Nudity: Few times (poster with full frontal female nudity, female breast); Near nudity Few times (woman in slip, man in underwear, woman in underwear)

Sexual Dialogue/Gesture: Many times (women comments about celibacy, man hints at feeling of incest, man asks woman about love life, crude comment about couples relationship, crude comment about adultery, sensuous kissing, scenes of woman with various partners)

Drugs: Many times (cigarette smoking, marijuana smoked, cocaine use, ref. to mescaline use, alcoholic drinks, man drives while high)

Other: Strained family relationships explored, widower paranoid about sons safety, man lies to family, children encouraged to shoplift, man asks wife/ children for forgiveness, discussion of incest if sibling is adopted, man chastises daughter for infidelity, man tries to help drug addicted friend, funeral held for dog

Running Time: 110 minutes
Intended Audience: Adults

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