Royal Tenenbaum

PLAYED BY Gene Hackman

WHO IS HE? A roguish lawyer who abandoned his overachieving children when they were adolescents, Royal works his way back into their lives 20 years later and tries to make it up to them, in part by taking an interest in grandsons Uzi and Ari (from left, Jonah Meyerson and Grant Rosenmeyer).

SETTING AN EXAMPLE Royal shows the boys how to shoplift, how to hitch a ride on a garbage truck, and how to bet at a dogfight (pictured). Well, we didn't say he set a good example.

EMBARRASSING MOMENT He fails to remember daughter Margot's middle name.

FATHERLY ADVICE To his son Richie: ''You know what? Don't listen to me... I never understood any of us. I wish I knew what to tell you, but I just don't.''

WHY YOU'LL WATCH Somehow, the great Hackman manages to make this nearly unredeemable dad almost lovable.

MORE FATHERLY FUN Hackman is similarly hilarious as the senator whose daughter is marrying into Robin Williams and Nathan Lane's family in The Birdcage.

EW MOVIE GRADE A

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