The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is director Wes Anderson's fourth film, centring around the adventures and mishaps of offbeat aquatic director Steve Zissou.
Zissou (Bill Murray) is in the depths of a mid-life crisis. Facing dwindling interest and disinterested audiences, his latest picture - charting the whereabouts of the mythical jaguar shark - has fallen on deaf ears, and the creature has chewed his best friend Esteban (Seymour Cassel) into the bargain. Zissou's second marriage to his disillusioned "rich bitch" wife Eleanor (Anjelica Huston), is very much on the rocks, while his nemesis Alistair Hennessey (Jeff Goldblum), is ready to pick up the pieces.
Seeking revenge, Zissou embarks on a final mission to hunt and destroy the jaguar shark on his decrepit vessel, The Belafonte. Joining Zissou are Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson) a Kentucky pilot who may or may not be Zissou's son, and pregnant, bubble-blowing British journalist, Jane Winslett-Richardson (the enchanting Cate Blanchett), who is compiling a no-holds barred piece on the ailing star.
On board, 'Team Zissou' consists of an unnecessarily large and slapdash crew, featuring a crazed Teutonic (Willem Dafoe), 15 unpaid interns and a Portuguese acoustic guitar player with a penchant for David Bowie. Members are uniformly kitted out in matching retro track-suits, red bobble hats, speedo's, Glock's and the sadly discontinued Adidas Zissou range.
After a battle over finances (extravagant Zissou has a sauna room on board, while interns sip Moet over dinner), Ned conveniently assists with funding the operation, thanks to a $275,000 trust fund, and the large ensemble cast head into unchartered and unpoliced waters.
For fans of Anderson's previous work (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums) there is much on offer. The camera effortlessly pans throughout the interior of The Belafonte, with the set resembling the interior of an ant hill as the assembled crew go about their daily lives. Anderson leaves nothing to spare with his famed attention to detail, with each room featuring an array of history, literature, pictures and pastimes. The Life Aquatic is a dry and sardonic take on the life and works of Jacques Cousteau, featuring some amusing staged discoveries of previously unknown species and imaginative computer generated creatures, with scenes bound together by the Portuguese Bowie-inspired soundtrack.
Yet, in compiling a review of The Life Aquatic, it is impossible not to mention Anderson's 2001 masterpiece, The Royal Tenenbaums. Both films revolve around a deeply-flawed male central character, struggling to come to terms with middle age and the responsibilities of fatherhood. Yet, while Tenenbaums features a glorious array of well-rounded - albeit dysfunctional - characters, it is tough to name a character within The Life Aquatic which strikes the same chord. While Murray is exceptional as the laconic and frequently dismissive Zissou, the viewer remains firmly at arms length, and other usual show stoppers (Wilson in particular), struggle to get past the first dimension.
As a film in its own right, The Life Aquatic is a brave and wonderful spectacle, but when placed alongside Tenenbaums, there is a disappointing sense of deja vu. It seems Anderson's first collaboration with new writing partner Noah Baumbach is essentially re-charting old waters.
Zissou (Bill Murray) is in the depths of a mid-life crisis. Facing dwindling interest and disinterested audiences, his latest picture - charting the whereabouts of the mythical jaguar shark - has fallen on deaf ears, and the creature has chewed his best friend Esteban (Seymour Cassel) into the bargain. Zissou's second marriage to his disillusioned "rich bitch" wife Eleanor (Anjelica Huston), is very much on the rocks, while his nemesis Alistair Hennessey (Jeff Goldblum), is ready to pick up the pieces.
Seeking revenge, Zissou embarks on a final mission to hunt and destroy the jaguar shark on his decrepit vessel, The Belafonte. Joining Zissou are Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson) a Kentucky pilot who may or may not be Zissou's son, and pregnant, bubble-blowing British journalist, Jane Winslett-Richardson (the enchanting Cate Blanchett), who is compiling a no-holds barred piece on the ailing star.
On board, 'Team Zissou' consists of an unnecessarily large and slapdash crew, featuring a crazed Teutonic (Willem Dafoe), 15 unpaid interns and a Portuguese acoustic guitar player with a penchant for David Bowie. Members are uniformly kitted out in matching retro track-suits, red bobble hats, speedo's, Glock's and the sadly discontinued Adidas Zissou range.
After a battle over finances (extravagant Zissou has a sauna room on board, while interns sip Moet over dinner), Ned conveniently assists with funding the operation, thanks to a $275,000 trust fund, and the large ensemble cast head into unchartered and unpoliced waters.
For fans of Anderson's previous work (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums) there is much on offer. The camera effortlessly pans throughout the interior of The Belafonte, with the set resembling the interior of an ant hill as the assembled crew go about their daily lives. Anderson leaves nothing to spare with his famed attention to detail, with each room featuring an array of history, literature, pictures and pastimes. The Life Aquatic is a dry and sardonic take on the life and works of Jacques Cousteau, featuring some amusing staged discoveries of previously unknown species and imaginative computer generated creatures, with scenes bound together by the Portuguese Bowie-inspired soundtrack.
Yet, in compiling a review of The Life Aquatic, it is impossible not to mention Anderson's 2001 masterpiece, The Royal Tenenbaums. Both films revolve around a deeply-flawed male central character, struggling to come to terms with middle age and the responsibilities of fatherhood. Yet, while Tenenbaums features a glorious array of well-rounded - albeit dysfunctional - characters, it is tough to name a character within The Life Aquatic which strikes the same chord. While Murray is exceptional as the laconic and frequently dismissive Zissou, the viewer remains firmly at arms length, and other usual show stoppers (Wilson in particular), struggle to get past the first dimension.
As a film in its own right, The Life Aquatic is a brave and wonderful spectacle, but when placed alongside Tenenbaums, there is a disappointing sense of deja vu. It seems Anderson's first collaboration with new writing partner Noah Baumbach is essentially re-charting old waters.