The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Movie Review:


Wes Anderson has always been a little weird. His films are always off the wall and come from a place we would least expect.

Take 1998’s “Rushmore” which saw Anderson’s first team-up with comedian Bill Murray. It was the most unlikely of love stories as a 15-year old prep school kid (Jason Schwartzman) and the much older man (Bill Murray) fight for the affections of one Miss Cross (Olivia Williams). It still today is one of the quirkiest romantic comedies on record.

Then Anderson took on the “family” comedy when he assembled a group of misfits who all happened to be related to each other in hilarious and brilliant “The Royal Tenenbaums”.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that both of those films were co-written by actor Owen Wilson.

“The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” is the latest project from director Wes Anderson and probably his boldest yet.

The story centers on Steve Zissou (Bill Murray), a documentary filmmaker and oceanographer who is in the twilight of his career. In his latest documentary Zissou accidentally loses his best friend, Esteban (Seymour Cassel) in a shark attack captured on camera.

Zissou is determined to hunt down and kill the shark responsible and he plans for that to be his next film. As he embarks, his wife (Angelica Huston) leaves him, he gets a visit from his long-lost son (Owen Wilson) and has to put up with an investigating journalist (Cate Blanchett) bent on telling his real story.

First of all, “Life Aquatic” is like no other film you will ever see. Take that for what it is. It could be a good thing or a bad thing.

It is vintage Wes Anderson, quirky, zany and the most unlikely told story you are bound to see.

The triangle and relationship between Murray, Wilson and Blanchett is very Anderson and has a lot of similarities to the triangle from Rushmore. Even the odd relationship between father and son is similar to that film as well. But that’s about the only real similarity between this film and Anderson’s others.

I have to admit I really liked Murray in this film but had a hard time trying to get that damn song from “Stripes” out of my head. You know the one where his whole world falls apart and lumbers through the streets.

I also really enjoyed the out-of-this-world underwater creatures dreamed up for this film. They are magical yet quirky and strange and echo a lot of who Zissou is.

I also really enjoyed the performances from Blanchett, Wilson, Jeff Goldblum and Willem Dafoe.

The faults with the film are its seemingly infinite running time and the lack of really hilarious jokes. A film of this scale can’t survive on quirkiness alone. I think this has a lot to do with Anderson teaming with a new writing partner this time. Wilson’s wit and sarcastic sense of humor was brilliantly laced with Anderson’s quirky characters in the first two films but is evidently absent in this film.

I guess I was hoping for more fun and games with this film than I got. It’s a strange and fun ride but you can only go around this merry-go-around so many times without a giggle.

So Says the Soothsayer



Dean Kish

Wes Anderson takes another spiky, askance and hilarious look at family relationships, while at the same time paying homage to those goofy nature films of the 1970s. It's a disarmingly enjoyable film that you never want to end.

Steve Zissou (Murray) is a star marine biologist whose Life Aquatic films are just starting to lose their zing. Then his lifelong mentor (Cassel) is killed just off-camera by a mythical fish Steve dubs a jaguar shark, although no one else sees it. Now he wants revenge, but his brainy wife (Huston) wants nothing to do with it and flees into the arms of Steve's nemesis (Goldblum). Meanwhile, a young man (Wilson) who may be Steve's son shows up, as does a snoopy and very pregnant reporter (Blanchett).

The relationships get more and more complicated as the clever, hysterically funny script slices through the twisted interaction to reveal the each person's inner soul. The performances are astutely detailed, with odd dialog and actions that are both silly and natural at the same time. Each actor brings some edgy subtext to his or her character, but it's so dry and subtle that you might miss it if you're not paying attention! Murray is at his very best here; and this is perhaps Wilson's best work yet.

Anderson creates a marvellous underwater wonderland, with fantastical creatures and outrageous seascapes, while above the surface everything looks permanently stuck in a 1970s educational film--daft fashion, archaic technology, wacky camerawork--even though the story is set in the present. There's also a freewheeling sense of humour that infuses the film, from Steve's wildly varied transport methods to his nameless interns and useless dolphins. One of his crew (Jorge) even provides live background songs--namely Portuguese versions of David Bowie hits.

It's such a funny film that the serious themes almost sneak up on us. The quest to make peace with ourselves is vividly examined without ever resorting to obvious cliches, and as a result the film remains engaging right through its various twists and turns, both the hysterically funny ones and the ones that lodge a lump in the throat. Life is indeed an adventure.

Rich Cline

Famed oceanographer Steve Zissou's (Murray) last expedition had ended in disaster when the extremely rare Jaguar Shark ate his best friend. Now his latest adventure had completely changed focus, as all scientific reasoning is thrown out of the window, Team Zissou's mission in now to hunt down the shark and kill it. With the inclusion of a reporter, Jane Winslett-Richardson (Blanchett) and a Kentucky Airways pilot called Ned Plimpton (Wilson) claiming to be Steve's son, the usually focused crew of the Belafonte is starting to question their Captain's motives and the validity of the mission.

When it comes to original, quirky humour writer/director Wes Anderson has got the market covered but does 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou' live up to his lofty standards? Easily.

In probably his most accessible movie to date, Anderson lives out his fascination with the scientific, educational films about the Earth's oceans made by the legendary oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and adds his own unique
quirkiness. Instead of Cousteau we have Zissou, an expert on all things aquatic who had fallen on hard times. Once the celebrated star of the
Adventurer's club and renowned worldwide, to the point that he even had his own clothing line, Zissou hadn't made a hit documentary in nine years and
was on the verge of quitting after losing his oldest friend to the Jaguar Shark. Driven by revenge, he takes Team Zissou on a suicide mission to hunt
down the shark and destroy it. Only Anderson could send an oceanographer and his team on a treacherous revenge quest.

Gathering together another outstanding ensemble cast, Wes Anderson proves again that he is a draw for the big names. A few Anderson stalwarts have
returned to the fold and the movie amazing for it, as each of them really have an affinity with the director and his material. No one else but Bill Murray could have played Steve Zissou. He is at his very best when playing loveable and quirky characters, and the famed oceanographer is one of his best. This is a man driven by passion and emotion, who has lost his way over the last nine years. Still living on past laurels, he struggles to recapture the magic that made him a hero worldwide that is until the tragic death of his best friend and the discovery that he has a son. Murray grabs the role with both hands, creating a truly memorable character and one that really suits his comedic talents. Owen Wilson also returns for his fourth collaboration with Anderson, but this time it is sadly only in front of the camera. While the script is still as quirky and funny as ever some of the characters are lacking the Wilson touch, as he co-wrote Anderson's 'Bottle Rocket', 'Rushmore' and 'The Royal Tenenbaums'. His aside, Wilson's character Ned Plimpton is a typically likeable creation by the actor. The question of whether he is a Zissou or not becomes irrelevant as the character grows on Steve and the rest of the team.

The rest of the cast is just as starry. Cate Blanchett puts on her best English accent to play reporter Jane Winslett-Richardson, love interest for
Ned and a figure of jealousy for Steve. Anjelica Huston has a slightly underwritten part but when she graces the screen the film is all the better
for it. Jeff Goldblum and Michael Gambon play Steve's bitter rival and his bumbling agent but it is Willem Dafoe as Klaus Daimler who steals the show. Revealing a great gift for comedy, Dafoe makes Klaus, the jealous first mate of the Belafonte, the true comedic element of the film and the star. You want him to be in shot all of the time because you never know what classic line he is going to come out with next.

'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou' is probably Wes Anderson's most accessible film but don't think he has lost any of his quirkiness, just
watch the stop motion animated underwater scenes. While some of the characters could have done with a bit more development and screen time,
there are more than enough classic creations here. Now where is that Junior Team Zissou application form?

Jamie Kelwick

 

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