Review: The Life Aquatic

The thing to keep in mind when you're dealing with a Wes Anderson film is that 
you're really dealing with a kind of play. Like Rushmore and The Royal 
Tenenbaums - there isn't much editing, special effects or anything that makes 
up that Hollywood feel. To many, that's disappointing but I think that's how 
Anderson is able to pull in so much talent for these otherwise, morbid movies. 
The characters are key and acting is paramount. There isn't anything to hide
behind; they're out there, emotionally, spiritually, and in the case of the 
script girl - just plain, naked. If the actor can't pull off their character,
the whole movie is going to come apart.

Bill Murray is Steve Zissou an oceanographer and who's looking to film part two 
in a series of documentaries about the dangerous Jaguar Shark - a previously 
unknown species that ate his best friend (in part one) - if he happens to get 
revenge along the way, so much the better. He sets sail with a crew of unpaid 
interns, a film crew, a very pregnant journalist (Blanchett), a bond company 
stooge and Ned Plimpton - aka Kingsley Zissou - aka Owen Wilson an Air 
Kentucky pilot who may or may not be Steve's long "lost" son.

The adventure starts at Zissou's private island and takes them through a 
desperate battle against pirates in unprotected waters a brief stop over in 
rival Alistair Hennessey's (Goldblum) research facility and eventually under
the sea to search for the elusive Jaguar Shark (named after the first two 
ords to come into Steve's mind after seeing it).

This film isn't for everyone. If you haven't seen any of Wes Anderson's films
then you better brace yourself for very subtle comedy and very quirky acting. 
You're going to be dealing with your Lost In Translation Bill Murray, not your 
Ghostbusters Bill... still brilliant, still funny, but not throwing off 
on-stop one-liners. The same goes for the rest of the cast. 

This story is great and of course the characters and acting are top notch. But
as a comedy it's, very depressing. The absurd humor was too over the top to 
work, and there just didn't seem to be enough of the subtle humor to overcome
the various tragedies visited upon the characters. I think that balance is very
important in a film like this and in this case it was just a little off. 
Overall, I enjoyed myself, however I just expected more - just three stars for
this one; sorry Bill.


Starring: Bill Murray, Anjelica Houston, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum and Willem Dafoe 
By: Wes Anderson
Rated: R (violence, sex, language)
The Life Aquatic opens Christmas Day

Dave can be reached at dkerr@detroitbuzz.com