Great Character: Chas Tenenbaum (“The Royal Tenenbaums”)
This month’s theme: Wes Anderson characters. Today: Chas Tenenbaum from the 2001 movie The Royal Tenenbaums, written by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson.
The delectably detail-orientated director and screenwriter Wes Anderson shared his first of three Academy Award nominations with actor/screenwriter Owen Wilson (Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) for the dysfunctional family “dramedy” The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). The rise and fall and then moving back home with mom (Anjelica Huston) transition of three previously gifted grown siblings collides head-on with the last ditch effort of their distant daddy (Gene Hackman) who is suddenly trying to become “Poppa 2.0.”
To complicate matters even more for these three dazed and confused 30-somethings, their estranged dad is also trying to rekindle the faded affection of their matriarch as she simultaneously moves towards matrimony with a new suitor (Danny Glover). First, there is the “favorite son” Richie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson) who threw away a successful tennis career due to depression. The second sibling is ironically the cause of Richie’s emotional funk, adopted daughter Margot Tenenbaum (Gwyneth Paltrow) who Ritchie secretly craves, but she is already taken. Margot has had enough of hiding her feelings, or lack-thereof for her husband, just as she has hidden her smoking habit and promiscuous pile of lovers.
Then there is the third sibling, Chas Tenenbaum (Ben Stiller), the sparkplug financial whiz since grade school who remains frozen in trauma by his wife’s fatal plane crash. Chas’s signature cherry red Adidas tracksuit and bushy black mane make him standout as the “code red” emergency signal within this tragic colorful ensemble of domestic sorrow.
The Royal Tenenbaums from IMDB:
An estranged family of former child prodigies reunites when one of their members announces he has a terminal illness.
The fear of losing the last two surviving members of Chas’ nuclear family: youngster sons Ari and Uzi Tenenbaum, has contributed to Chas Tenenbaum’s intense paranoia and creature-of-habit status. Safety comes first…second, third and fourth on Chas’ agenda, which weighs heavy on his less-than-cheery social skills and on his military-like approach to parenting.
CHAS: (after the fire drill) Four minutes, forty-eight seconds. We’re all dead. Burned to a crisp.
A visual metaphor for Chas’ cold, clenched control over his pre-teen sons is cleverly expressed by having them wear a mini carbon copy version of his uniform of matching red Adidas tracksuit and prerequisite curly locks. There is clearly no room for individuality, making new friends or customized nurturing — just redundant routines and tedious risk aversion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDYZeLb4x_I
Unfortunately, Chas’ fear has also extended beyond testing his son’s safety reflexes and has expanded into the dreaded feeling that even his home itself may not be a safe haven for his sons either (with no visible proof to prove it). So where does Chas take himself and his two isolated miniature mirror images, to the one place where he once felt protected and productive — The Tenenbaum Family House where he was raised.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_xwyY9g2qs
Unfortunately, he will have to face previous rivalries, bouts of jealousy and the father he never felt accepted by. It is clearly difficult for Chas to watch his mother’s attention span become completely captivated by her accountant and soon-to-be husband, while his love life flounders into a dismal abyss of arrested development.
Also, once again seeing his brother Ritchie and his father Royal picking up their camaraderie where it left off keeps Chas feeling even more like the black sheep outsider. That blast-from-the-past BB gun pellet that is still lodged in Chas’ hand, put there by Daddy Tenenbaum, is a daily reminder that even when Chas’ dad was suppose to be on his team, he really wasn’t. Royal may have already forgiven Chas for suing him and putting him in prison, but Chas hasn’t made peace with the past financial scandal that led to this legal turn of events.
CHAS: (to Ritchie) You poor sucker. You poor, washed up papa’s boy.
To make matters worse for Chas Tenenbaum, one of Wes Anderson’s most heartbreaking and deeply complex characters, his two precious sons that he has already lied to about not having a grandfather, are now getting even closer to Chas’ dad then probably Chas has ever managed to.
After losing his wife and the mother to his two children, Chas is trying to remain strong and stoic for his kids’ well being and his own frail sanity. He could clearly use the belated bond that his father is offering to him, nevertheless he keeps resisting Royal Tenenbaum’s peace treaty olive branch to fairly stubborn degrees. All of the Tenebaums seem to be evolving in their own particular ways, while Chas’ resistance to change as well as facing his fears are causing his stonewalls of sensitivity to cave in.
CHAS: I’ve had a rough year, dad.
For his self-inflicted secluded coping methods, and his conflicted and repressed desire to gain a dad after losing a wife — Chas Tenenbaum is one of Wes Anderson’s truly GREAT CHARACTERS.
Interesting to compare Chas to another father frenzied about the safety of his son after a tragedy in the past: Marlin in Finding Nemo.
Where does The Royal Tenenbaums rank in your list of Wes Anderson movies?
Thank you, Jason, for this post. Please join us in comments to discuss The Royal Tenenabums.
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