Why Gene Hackman Really Was The GOAT
A Royal Ending - Why Gene Hackman Really Was The Best
Gene Hackman marked his 2004 retirement with the comedy Welcome to Mooseport, but the perfect sign-off came a few years earlier in 2001, with Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums.
Although Anderson's film was produced in somewhat tempestuous conditions, with Hackman ostensibly struggling to gel with the filmmaker, the end result is nothing less than pure catharsis. This shouldn't be especially surprising for those familiar with Anderson's handiwork, as he has always excelled at operating in the space between whimsy and sorrow, vibrating molecules as the surreal gradually exposes the raw nerves of our existence. The Royal Tenenbaums does so with an extra level of potency, however, grappling with the weight of grief, lost time, legacy and redemption, as Tenenbaum patriarch Royal - played by Hackman - attempts to reintegrate himself into his prodigious (and deeply traumatised) family.
It's a deeply affecting text, featuring phenomenal performances from Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ben Stiller, but Royal is the heart and soul, with Hackman conveying his evolution from cynical schemer to enlightened grandfather beautifully.
As a display of Hackman's versatility and earnestness, it's a perfect send-off. In the wake of his passing, though, it feels like a fittingly emotional tribute - a film that provided a tailor-made canvas for him to convey his indelible attributes, before he "died tragically rescuing his family from the wreckage of a destroyed sinking battleship."
The real Hackman, of course, got to live two more hearty, life-filled decades, retiring to Santa Fe with his wife, where he enjoyed an active, peaceful sabbatical full of painting, bike riding, and being a part of the local community. It is so deeply unfair that this happy ending has been upended in the way it has, but there is solace to be found in just how long-lived Hackman's career was, that we got to experience that gift for so long, and that he was able to bow out and live what seemed like many peaceful and happy years.
As Morgan Freeman eulogised in his tribute to the actor at this year's Oscars: "Gene always said, 'I don't think about legacy, I just hope people remember me as someone who tried to do good work'. So I think I speak for us all when I say, Gene, you'll be remembered for that and so much more." It's a touching epitaph for one of our greatest performers - one whose passing brings us upsettingly closer not just to the end of a chapter in film history, but one he defined. Hackman was the New Hollywood. There will never be another like him.