Like "The Royal Tenenbaums," writer/director Wes Anderson has crafted a bizarre world filled with eccentric characters and outrageous plot elements that will either delight you or disgust you. I think I can safely say that if you could at least stand the previous work of Anderson, then you could probably stand "The Life Aquatic."

The plot (although it is more of a series of subplots linked together on the way to the climax first mentioned at the beginning of the film) is thus: Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) is a documentary filmmaker. His films about the mysteries and creatures of the ocean used to be world famous. Now, he's on the edge of being a washed-up nobody. When his best friend is devoured by a mysterious shark, Zissou announces that his next documentary will follow his trek to hunt down and kill his friend's murderer. Along the way, he meets the son he supposedly never knew he had (Owen Wilson), attempts to romance the pregnant reporter doing a story on him (Cate Blanchett) and gets into all sorts of crazy misadventures that range from grand theft to pirate battles.

"The Life Aquatic" begins awkwardly, but soon settles into a comfortable, rather slow pace. Anderson fills the film with numerous quirks that make it entirely unique. Like his previous films, the sets are filled with so many details that one wonders how many hours the set decorators put into it. Some of the sets are simply unique and brilliant. For example, there is a set of Zissou's boat that is from the side, allowing us to see all of the rooms at once. Anderson employs numerous tracking shots and situations that require perfect timing and obvious improvisation from his actors. These actors perform nicely. Murray is as dry as dry can be (I mean that as a compliment), Blanchett is simply wonderful, and Wilson is enjoyable, but not the best on board. That honor would go to Willem Dafoe, showing a rare comic side as an insecure German. The character's lines are rarely funny, but Dafoe's expressions and delivery are like that of a master comedian. Also along for the ride is Bud Cort, delivering a likable, often very humorous performance, Angelica Huston, strangely controlled for such an odd character, and Michael Gambon, in a small, but effective role. On the antagonistic end is Jeff Goldblum as Zissou's nemesis. Where the hell has Goldblum been? Watching him here, I remembered how supremely entertaining this guy and I wished that his role was larger.

I'm not going to beat around the bush, though: "The Life Aquatic" is plagued with problems, most of them were too small to remember once the film was over, but some stand out.

Owen Wilson did not co-write the script with Anderson this time. Apparently he is the missing comic link, because while this if a funny film, it's not uproarious like his previous scripts with Anderson. "The Life Aquatic" ends up playing more like an eccentric drama with comic elements. Not too many complaints there, I still enjoyed myself immensely.

What really bugs me about the film is that there is nowhere for these characters to go. What made "The Royal Tenenbaums" such a special film was that the characters evolved, learned something, and a theme was developed. "The Life Aquatic" has no theme, none that I can make out after viewing it. The characters are quirky, but there's no reason WHY, unlike "Tenenbaums."

(There used to be another paragraph here, but I deleted it because it goes completely against my current thoughts. This is one of the best movies of the year

© Written by Jacob Hall

How We Rated This Film TC Candler - C Richard Propes - B- Jacob Hall - A

TC Candler's Comment

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Richard Propes' Comment

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