the royal tenenbaums

The Royal Tenenbaums is a dazzlingly aesthetic movie and absolutely nothing else; "light as a feather, but fabulous" (a quote on a P.G. Wodehouse collection). But the aesthetics! The meticulous chaos of the walls, the blood with the beard shavings, Henry Sherman's gingham getups   -- everyone's getups. There is nothing real in this movie but there is so much fun; watching the collisions of the assembled lunatics is an utter joy. There is Royal suited in gray and pink and green, Chas and children in Adidas jumpsuits, Richie in Fila and camel hair, Margot in fur and eyeshadow and Eli in urban cowboy. And that's all you really need to know. There are a couple of weak, mistaken attempts to squeeze actual emotions from these characters, but there is so much sublime nonsense.