The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
The Cast
Bill Murray .... Steve Zissou
Owen Wilson .... Ned Plimpton
Cate Blanchett .... Jane Winslett-Richardson
Anjelica Huston .... Eleanor Zissou
Willem Dafoe .... Klaus Daimler
Jeff Goldblum .... Alistair Hennessey
Michael Gambon .... Oseary Drakoulias
Noah Taylor .... Vladimir Wolodarsky
Bud Cort .... Bill Ubell
Directed by Wes Anderson of The Royal Tenenbaums fame, & co-written by Anderson & Noah Baumbach, Life Aquatic is the story of former top notch oceanographer Steve Zissou (Murray) & his vow to kill the jaguar shark that ate his partner. In case I haven't mentioned it recently, Anderson's Tenenbaums movie is #3 on my Top Five Movies list, so I'm kind of a big fan of his work. So when you sit down to watch a new movie by one of your favourite directors, how much do you have to prepare yourself for disappointment?
Some may view that as harsh cynicism, but there are few things I hate more in life than getting excited for something that ends up sucking hard, & not in any good ways. This movie here taught me all about getting my hopes up for cinematic gold, & since then I've tried to not get too jazzed up for movie releases. Life Aquatic was one of them that I tried not to get excited about, despite how good the previews & commercials looked. I'm a veteran movie watcher, so I know the best stuff is shown to everyone. That's just good advertising.
First of all, the entire cast is fantastic, from the Interns to the First Mate, all believable & great. Particularily one Willem Dafoe as the Waylon Smithers-esque Klaus. The movie is also shot beautifully, one of the trademarks of Anderson's movies. There aren't too many scenes reminiscent of the quick cuts of the Tenenbaums movie, but this isn't that kind of movie.
Despite my earlier comment, I do have a gripe with how the movie was shot, now that I think about it. There were many noticable moments where the positioning of the characters onscreen was similar to how one would see actors performing onstage. As well, the cut-out model of the Belafonte ship was at first cute, but then grew to be distracting later on. I can't suspend my disbelief when the sets resemble something out of a high school production of 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Anderson is still too in love with his own creations, his own ideas for the score of the movie, etc. That's something to expect out of a first-time director, not someone working on his fourth.
The story switches throughout the movie, going from a straight-ahead revenge movie to a family drama, then some out-of-the-blue action sequences. Murray plays Zissou excellently, as a world-weary traveller resigned to .. well whatever happens, happens. Dealing with being a father figure to Ned (Wilson) for the first time in his life, he approaches it with child-like enthusiasm, hitting all the right notes.
If my review seemed kinda here-&-there, well, that's kinda the movie it is. I'm not sure what it's missing, but I don't have the warm feelings I did after watching most of Wes Anderson's other movies. Murray & the supporting cast were excellent, as was most of the filming of the movie. I guess it's the story that doesn't quite satisfy in the end, leaving me wanting more of a closure than the hollowness I was feeling. This might be my least favourite Wes Anderson movie, but perhaps it's something that will grow on me through repeated viewings. As it stands now, it's a 3 outta 5.
One More Victim's review
Mikey Iaco's review
Andy the Saint's review
Roger Ebert's review