trust12345's Full Review: Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) is a shaggy dog story that is long in the tooth and heavy in the shag. (That's American shag, not British.) Sadly to report, it is a trial to endure all the way through (its two hours feel like four), though numerous small moments and quirky lines poke through the burnished, wan tedium.
The inimitable Bill Murray plays the hoary-bearded (and quite chubby) Steve Zissou, a Jacques Cousteau-esque oceanographer and documentarian, minus the knowledge and French accent. As the joke goes (several times too many), Zissou's estranged wife, Eleanor (Anjelica Huston) is “the brains” behind his expansive operation. Some humor is culled from the evident disparity between Steve's profession (which has launched him to a never-convincing iconic level of stardom) and his cavalier disdain for scientific facts, or even an animal-lover's care in the protection and welfare of his subjects.
Steve's glory years of opulent-styled adventuring and successful philandering are past, and the plot mainly concerns his hit and miss attempts to reinvigorate his faltering career, desiccated love life, and to make amends to a potential son (Owen Wilson) who claims he is the issue of one of Steve's long-ago discarded flings. At this stage in his life, Steve is finally ready to be a father (or he is open to the possibility of a son's worshipful presence). Anderson as co-writer (with Noah Baumbach) and director tries to have it both ways: to milk laughs from Steve's hapless attempts at fatherhood (not quite as funny or hapless as Dr. Evil's in the first Austin Powers film), as well as to score emotional points when events take a few tragic turns. Considering the pervasive mood of mandarin irony and gameness (everyone in the cast delivers his or her lines with the same deadpan and seemingly uncaring tone, perhaps with the exception of a reporter (Cate Blanchett) who is on board to write a cover story on Steve), the more serious notes that emerge late in the game seem glaringly out of place.
The plot in a jiffy: Steve Zissou, a foul-mouthed drunk and pot smoker, and his gung-ho team have just completed productions on their latest documentary, during the shooting of which Steve's partner is eaten by a giant creature Steve names a jaguar shark. (All of the animals in the film are CGI creations, quite quirkily animated and filmed.) Having shot a homing device into the killer animal, Steve is determined to hunt it down for the conclusion of his film, but he lacks financing and is getting the shaft from his longstanding sponsors. When Ned (Wilson) offers his inheritance to help finish the film, a bond company stooge (as he is formally known) is sent along for insurance. The stooge (played by the wonderful Bud Cort of Harold and Maude) is kidnapped during a violent clash with Philipino pirates, and among adventures, the Belafonte (the name of Steve's boat), sets forth to rescue him. Meanwhile, Steve's nemesis, Hennessey (Jeff Goldblum), who is also his wife's ex (and is a successful version of Steve) is also in danger out on the seas.
As with Anderson's previous films, multiple minor characters surrounding a few key figures inhabit a strangely claustrophobic universe in which motivations are readily explained, logic is awry but apparently shared in the close-knit community, and strained relationships (especially between fathers and sons, but also husbands and wives) are put to the test through a series of intellectual and emotional calisthenics. In Aquatic Life, the Byzantine love triangles, familial relationships and competing careers possess little power to move or interest, rendered utterly inconsequential by the script's tone of disaffection, listlessness and detachment.
Oh, but there are charms in store for the intrepid viewer. The Belafonte is a lovably manufactured collection of archaic technologies, fantasy rooms (the sauna and fully equipped sound recording studio, to name but two), and fanciful additional crafts straight of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine. The team's documentaries are extremely low tech and appear like high school biology class instructional movies. The costumes are corny-chic (red knit caps and baby blue short shorts or pants for the crew). For no reason at all, everyone carries a gun visibly strapped to their leg. Then there are the brilliant one-liners that erupt from characters' mouths, generally with the absurdist force of a non sequitur. Some instances:
SZ (referring to his wife): “She's a rich bitch; she was raised by maids.”
SZ (to the journalist): “I thought this was supposed to be a puff piece.”
SZ (to an intern after stealing his rival's espresso maker): “Hook this up and make me a latte.”
SZ (to the journalist he has been hitting on): “Please don't make fun of me; I was just trying to flirt with you.”
SZ (to one of the pirates): “Don't point that gun at him. He's an unpaid intern.”
SZ (to his wife): “I know I haven't been at my best this past decade.”
Wow: those were all Murray's lines. I suppose he has the lion's share of good dialogue, but the other character's do have their moments of absurdly frank disclosure. Goldblum's Hennessey says to Steve, “We never made good husbands. Of course, I have a good excuse; I'm part gay.”
Other highlights for me are Willem Dafoe who plays a German member of Zissou's team, and is a complex riddle of aggression and cowering. And then there is the sound track. Much of it is played “on set” as it were, by Seu Jorge accompanying his singing on guitar in the many anthems from early David Bowie that have been translated into Portuguese. And there is lots of J.S. Bach performed on piano by Angela Hewitt, as heard in the room of Cate Blanchett's forlorn journalist. When diving under water, the Zissou Team listens to hip techno with lyrical lines.
Bill Murray is his dependable self, charming, off-the-cuff, intelligent, vaguely world weary, and as always perfect in his timing and delivery. Anjelica Huston is also very fine, but ultimately wasted in such a streamlined and narrow role.
All in all, a very mixed kettle of fish, recommended primarily (only?) for fans of the director and those in the mood for a rambling, occasionally brilliant, often tedious, and ultimately trivial piece of big-budget auteurism.
* * * * *
Note for “concerned” parents: there is plenty of cussing, some goofy violence, and one character (Anne Marie, played by Robyn Cohen), who is topless for nearly all of her inconsequential scenes.
Internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) and his crew -- Team Zissou -- set sail on a expedition to hunt down the mysterious, e...More at HotMovieSale.com
Internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) and his crew--Team Zissou--set sail on an expedition to hunt down the mysterious, elus...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.