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Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
(2004)
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drama
 (imdb rating: 7.3/10)
This is one of the best movies of the 2004
Plot: With a plan to exact revenge on a mythical shark that killed his partner, oceanographer Steve Zissou (Murray) rallies a crew that includes his estranged wife (Huston), a journalist (Blanchett), and a man who may or may not be his son (Wilson).
"I said those things. I did those things. I can live with that" Steve Zissou I was long overdue to watch this movie with all the critical acclaim that accompanies any Wes Anderson work (not to be confused with other indie darling Paul Thomas Anderson). I am glad I have found the time to watch The hunt for a shark that may or may not exist takes Steve Zissou and his crew, aptly named Team Zissou on quite an adventure. What's not to love, the screening(s) in Italy, the eccentric crew with college interns, the lonely sea-lab, the pirates(!!!), the 3-legged dog, and one pretty bad-ass gun fight Many things pop when you think of this movie, but none other than the unusual cast of characters - Blanchett pays a British reporter who weasles her way into Zissou's crew to write a cover story, she plays her character with spunk not unlike her role as Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator, as always I do love a delectable British accent - Dafoe plays first mate Klaus, a short wearing German (even the divesuit was cut off, how hilarious), ever sensitive and insecure. I liked the variation of his hat with a little ball on top - Brazilian acoustic guitar troubadour (Seu Jorge) who plays songs in Portugese throughout the movie. His name is Pelé, a small homage to the Brazilian soccer legend. The end credits inform that he adapted and played David Bowie songs from the 80s, it comes to no surprise that he's an actual singer/songwriter - Rival ocean magnate Alistair Hennessey (what a name) played by Jeff Goldblum who captured the essence of being snotty (and gay). Goldblum is becoming a master at these roles, he had a similar turn on a recent guest spot for Will & Grace (season 7) - Drakoulis the financial backer (Gambon), he's clearly of some kind of Greek descent from what the name indicates but I think they tried to make a reference to movie producers acting like vampires ("Dracula"), simply sucking you dry. Although his appearance is quite a sight, it is his voice that really grabs you, I recognized it from the perfomance of one of my favorite movies of my teen years, Mobsters (he played family boss Faranzano).. Gambon is probably more famous for his turn in British cinema or his recent pickup as wizard Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series (after Richard Harris passed away between the 2nd and 3rd movie) - Owen Wilson gives a pretty good but pretty standard performance as Ned, Ned-o, who strives to connect with the abandonning father he's idolized since childhood. That nose is so distracting - Last but not least, master oceanographer captain Zissou played stoically with emotional restraint by Murray, who's searching for his own "great whale", in this case a mythical "jaguar shark" who ate his best friend on their last adventure. The French marine documentarian Cousteau was acknowledged as the inspiration by Anderson in the end credits This is the first movie where Anderson did not share writing duties with pal Owen Wilson, Noah Baumbach steps in instead and I think he contributes to a more serious (or less whacky) script here, though the whimsy quality of Anderson's work is never stronger (as many reviews point out) I really liked the pacing of the movie, there was very little down time or dead air, it moved with determination even when the captain sometimes didn't know what to do, pacing is usually a big problem with indie filmmakers. Added bonus were the short captions indicating we were at a different "acts" but also in a distinctive style of documentaries In the end, this last adventure gives Zissou a chance to connect with a son he never recognized (though lineage was a bit of a question at some point) and achieve new found glory through his work I think Anderson got a kick out of Zissou shooting his documentary, I mean as far as being a filmmaker, even though what we see is real rather than scripted, there is quite a bit of setup that goes into it (think of the wrangling done by reality tv but not to that extreme) Anderson continued his eccentric fascination with uniforms here (see the Ben Stiller's in Royal Tenenbaums), with Team Zissou sporting some cool gear (nice shade of blue for the sweatsuits) in full effect, from the limited edition Adidas to the red watch caps, I personally thought it looked great (Ned had a variation on the hat, still red but likely belonging to a collection of snow sports gear) They did quite a great job designing Zissou's boat "the Belafonte", the interior is showcased twice in great cutaway scenes, first serving as introduction of all different rooms and their purpose, and 2nd when Ned and Zissou have a spat about "the girl". The set is obviously manufactured but done in such a delightful playful manner that enables the viewer to easily navigate through it. Rest of the production design is equaly great, with the retro ocean gizmos and Zissou's various transportation vehicles The movie plays a variation of the same electornica at 3 times during the movie but it's actually really groovy. In fact most of the score of the movie is quite excellent, adds another layer to the movie's enjoyment. What they play in the scene with the jaguar shark at the end is pretty awesome. Got to get the soundtrack The end credits say there is a stop-motion crew and they must be responsible for at least some of the sea creatures (especially the crab scene), so colorful The end credits roll after the documentary is shown with Zissou walking away from the red carpet is pretty good, standard lettering work but the fierce song gives adequate support. They cut away to a scene on the pier with the crew assembling on the Belafonte, "bon voyage", it was one hell of a ride. Seu Jorge performs an entire song alone on the stage to put a cap with the rest of the credits, nice ending, brilliant movie Links - http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E7DB1131F933A25751C... - http://www.premiere.com/article.asp?section_id=2&article_id=1906 - album review - Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou by OST (Original Sound Track) Last Updated 9/10/2005 2:33:24 PM 1hr 58min / Directed by Wes Anderson / Starring Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon / Language: English / Watched: DVD Also by Wes Anderson - filmography (5 movies)
    Also starring Bill Murray - filmography (8 movies) 
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