Maybe I'm not in the right demographics for this film, but I couldn't grasp the humor. I grew up on Jacques Cousteau specials and expected this to be a satire or parody of them. And there are some items like that, such as the red hats and the ship named "Belafonte" (instead of "Calypso"). But Steve Zissou seemed less a parody or satire of Cousteau than a recast of a jerk in place of lovable Jacques. Parodies usually exaggerate the subject, but this seems to go 180 degrees from it. Instead of a classy, principled, passionate Frenchman with a close-knit family, we get a crude, materialistic, bored American who has explored more moist places on land than undersea.
Throughout the movie I kept wondering if the director either a) doesn't really know much about Cousteau and doesn't really care because that's not the point or b) knows MUCH more about Cousteau than I do, such as his personality in making documentary film deals, and is lampooning that esoteric material.
Maybe it's like one of those dry New Yorker cartoons. If I look at it long enough, maybe I'll get the jokes.
Throughout the movie I kept wondering if the director either a) doesn't really know much about Cousteau and doesn't really care because that's not the point or b) knows MUCH more about Cousteau than I do, such as his personality in making documentary film deals, and is lampooning that esoteric material.
Maybe it's like one of those dry New Yorker cartoons. If I look at it long enough, maybe I'll get the jokes.