The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004) Movie Info
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) |
| Director | Wes Anderson |
| Screenplay Writer | Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach |
| Based on Novel by | — (Original screenplay) |
| Lead Actors | Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett |
| Cast | Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Seu Jorge |
| Genre | Adventure, Comedy, Drama |
| Release Date | December 25, 2004 (United States) |
| Duration | 1h 59m (119 minutes) |
| Budget | ~$50 million |
| Language | English |
| Country | United States |
| Box Office (Worldwide) | ~$34.8 million |
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Summary
Gone to seed oceanographer Steve Zissou seeks out the mysterious jaguar shark that attacked his best friend and meets his long lost son.
Review
In an interview from the liner notes to the Criterion Collection edition of this, Wes Anderson’s fourth film as director, the idea of his being a miniaturist is addressed he loves putting in piles of detail that catch your eye constantly and reward multiple viewings. Many people seem to focus on this much more than the fact the man can tell a good story, and these are the people that miss the point of The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou this is a grown up version of a children’s story and is played exactly as thus across the board.
Bill Murray’s Steve Zissou is having a fairly awful time of it his Cousteau-esque documentaries have been sliding downward in quality, his financiers have pulled out of producing his next film, a man who appears to be his long-lost son has shown up, and he needs to seek out and destroy the speciment of an apparently brand-new species of shark that killed his best friend. Once you throw in a rival oceonographer, a pirate attack, and an attempted mutiny, you’ve got a dogpile of plot that constanly engages despite its seemingly-languid pacing that allows you to savor each scene as it unfolds. From the titular character down to the group of unpaid interns that he heaps abuse upon, everybody plays their roles perfectly with especially high marks to Cate Blanchette (whom I a normally not at all a fan of) and Angelica Houston. Hell, even Owen Wilson acquits himself nicely, proving once again that he’s not worth a damn unless Anderson’s pointing him in the right direction.
I unabashadly loved The Life Aquatic and its ironic, if not deconstructionist take on the young adult novels I devoured as a kid. If you’re not normally a fan of this director’s films, this movie is not going to be to your taste at all, but those who find his efforts more rewarding than, say, Meet The Fockers will delight in a fully-realized and hilarious world that is worth revisiting.
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