Royal (Gene Hackman) sits at the head of a table surrounded by kin, a peculiar pack of played-out prodigies. The cast itself is a cabinet of curiosities: Ben Stiller, Anjelica Huston, Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bill Murray, and co-writer Owen Wilson. The family, either Tenenbaums or heirs to the thrown, flails about in gorgeously composed set pieces, filled with gags, sudden shifts in mood, and a faint nostalgia that emanates like decaying potpourri. An idiosyncratic visionary, Wes Anderson has a fondness for damaged characters buoyed up by a painful sort of laughter. The sinking ship that is the Tenenbaums has lifesavers in a variety of tart flavors.