The Royal Tenenbaums · written by Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson · 2001

Richie receives Etheline’s telegram aboard the ship and decides to return home.

Scene 44 of 143 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Richie
Waiter

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Begins 36 min into a 1:59 film

The story so farBefore scene 44

After losing his hotel room, Royal claims he has only weeks to live so he can move back in with his estranged family; as the truth unravels, he must find a way to be useful and earn a place in their lives.

Scenes 1–39
Royal is absent from the children’s adult lives, and their family remains shaped by his betrayals and abandonment.
Scene 40
Royal falsely claims to be dying so Etheline will let him back into the family’s life.
Just before
Scene 41
Etheline tells Henry that the children know Royal is dying and that she cannot gauge how they are taking it.
Scene 42
Ari and Uzi call Chas from swimming class and ask who their father is; Chas names Royal and says he is really dying.
Scene 43
Eli apologizes to Margot over the phone after learning of Royal’s illness; they note they are not blood relatives.
Scene 44
This scene

44EXT. BOAT DECK. DAY.

The Cote d’Ivoire. Richie sits under a wool blanket in a chaise lounge reading a telegram with “Shore to Ship” printed across the top. He looks upset. A waiter stands next to him with a pen and a pad of paper in his hand. All of the other passengers on the deck are very elderly and have white hair.

RICHIE

I’d like to send a response, Alberto.

WAITER

Yes, sir. Go ahead.

RICHIE

Dear Mom, I received your message. I’m

coming home as soon as possible.

(pause)

Who do I see about that?

The waiter shrugs.