The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Directed by Wes Anderson
Stars Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and a crapload of other people.

Wes Anderson only hinted at his fascination with Jacques Yves-Costeau in his 1998 sophomore picture, Rushmore. The Life Aquatic is a complete send up of Costeau, filled with colorful stop-motion marine life and a soundtrack filled with actual David Bowie recordings and cover versions by Brazillian musician Seu Jorge, who also plays a member of Zissou's team.

It's also the worst film Anderson has made.

That's not to say that The Life Aquatic even approaches being a bad film - the technical aspects are even more refined than in his previous film, The Royal Tenenbaums. The cinematography is perfectly composed, and the cast all turns out great performances. Most notable is Owen Wilson as Ned, Zissou's long lost son from a previous relationship. Rather than playing the shady, insecure characters he is known for, the change of pace as an emotionally honest and forgiving character works wonders. There are also a few great scenes which used a cross-section of Zissou's boat as an anthill-like stage built for the theatre.

It's the script, co-written by Anderson and The Squid and the Whale director Noel Baumbach, that is the film's only real flaw. Unfortunately, it's a large flaw. The Life Aquatic has all the things that made his best film, the aforementioned Rushmore, excellent: lead characters in serious need of counseling, jokes that go for the cerebrum rather than the gut, and a sense of loss that makes aforementioned characters easy-to-relate for the audience.

The catch is that the characters are too messed up, and the sense of loss is so dark and so grand that the audience is likely to feel more depressed and disappointed than the characters. The cerebral jokes won't do much to heal this feeling.

Two disasters happen to the crew in the film. While one of the disasters that occurs in the film leads to an exciting and unpredictable subplot, the latter disaster feels tacked on and brings the weight of the film to an unlikable low.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is likely to disappoint both fans of Bill Murray and Wes Anderson, but it isn't without its merits. Casual film fans will probably detest it. Perhaps this is a film that gets better with repeat viewings.