The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: 2004, dir. Wes Anderson. Seen at Alamo Village (Jan. 21).
The credits rolled at the end of The Life Aquatic and the theater lights came on and my boyfriend turned to me and said, “See, it is possible to make a movie with quirky characters that aren’t mean-spirited stereotypes.”
Many fans of Wes Anderson appear to be somewhat disappointed by The Life Aquatic. It does not contain as many of the arresting images that are so memorable in The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore, for example. On the other hand, unlike The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic has a stronger storyline. You can call it a narrative sellout if you want, but it was a more entertaining movie overall.

Bill Murray was fine as Steve Zissou, who isn’t supposed to be like Cousteau, not at all. I like Bill Murray best in small supporting roles, but he carried this one off quite well. Owen Wilson actually managed to get through an entire movie without annoying me. I was impressed. Cate Blanchett baffled me for awhile, because she appeared to be channeling Sophie Thompson’s voice, or perhaps Emma Thompson’s mannerisms, and sometimes both, but she was dressed to look like Gwyneth Paltrow’s sister. I haven’t seen The Aviator, but from watching her in this movie I can see where she might be able to portray Katharine Hepburn quite ably. I also enjoyed seeing Anjelica Huston, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, and … whoa. I had no idea that was Bud Cort as the bond company stooge. My God! I mean, Bud Cort, Harold in Harold and Maude, yes, that was him. What an amusing surprise!
The movie is supposed to be superficially about sea exploration and under the surface, about revenge and relationships and growing too old to do the work you want to do. But I thought the movie was really about filmmaking. The crew of the Belafonte is constantly on the alert to get a good shot of this or that, and they have no scruples about staging something if they have to, although the staging is always a little too obvious (much to the audience’s amusement). And Zissou often talks about events in his life as if they are all narrative points in one big movie (or TV series) of his life.
The sea creatures in this movie are all animated, courtesy of Henry Selick—you might know his animation techniques from The Nightmare Before Christmas or James and the Giant Peach, both of which he directed. Very quirky. Very cute.
The Life Aquatic is all about being quirky, and amusing, and entertaining. It is amazing that behind all the quirky characters, we get a good and lively story that sustains the entire movie. Zissou (Murray) decides to mount a huge quest to find the leopard shark that killed his friend, and brings along the young man who claims to be his son (Wilson), as well as a pregnant reporter (Blanchett) who doesn’t respond well to his propositions. His wife (Huston) decides to stay out of this adventure, seeking refuge in the home of his nemesis (Goldblum). So there’s plenty of room for suspense as well as relationship exploration in there with the quirky characters and the gorgeous photography.
[spoiler alert for this paragraph only] The movie goes a little too far at one point, when we discover that the crew of Goldblum’s ship has all been murdered by cannibalistic pirates. The idea behind this was probably for us to think that Goldblum’s character is dead, so we get a surprise when we see him playing cards with the pirates. But I think it was a bit cold and cavalier and it nearly threw the film off-balance. The film is dark at times, and the characters are sometimes in danger, but this throwaway mass murder didn’t fit. Aside from this moment, the filmmakers are generally respectful of the characters.
You should see The Life Aquatic in a theater, if only because the amazing cutaway of the Belafonte won’t look nearly as impressive on a smaller screen.
I liked The Life Aquatic. There were scenes that made me think “waaaay cooool” (the cutaway of the Belafonte, the whale dancing behind a porthole while Blanchett’s character interviews Murray’s). The characters were likeable in their weird little ways. Zissou is obviously a bit of a jerk but since Bill Murray is playing him, we don’t mind so much. The plot didn’t meander too much and had a pleasing amount of suspense. The titles throughout the film, in Wes Anderson’s standard font (which font is that, does anyone know?), were not overly intrusive and were often amusing.
The Life Aquatic was a charming little movie that I would definitely recommend to most people. My boyfriend is not a big Wes Anderson fan and he liked it. And perhaps that’s the key … perhaps The Life Aquatic is most enjoyable for people who aren’t rabid Wes Anderson fans. While I liked it, I might buy The Royal Tenenbaums on DVD before I bought this movie. Maybe.