Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three child prodigies, and then they separated acrimoniously. The first child, Chas, began buying real estate at an early age and possessed an uncanny understanding of business and international finance. The daughter, Margot, was a playwright and earned her first $50,000 grant by the ninth grade. Richie was a young tennis star, winning the U.S. Nationals three years consecutively, and was the youngest pro in history. However, all the family's early brilliance is overshadowed by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. The father, largely considered the root of these problems, now attempts to reconcile with his children, doing so with the same ineptitude he displayed in raising them in the first place.

Impeccably written and brilliantly acted, the immensely charming "The Royal Tenenbaums" is the idiosyncratic reunion story of a bizarre family. The screenplay for this sharp comedy was once again penned by the Anderson-Wilson tandem.