The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

MOVIE #1,280 •🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿• 12.21.23 WES ANDERSON: DIRECTOR FOCUS This is Anderson’s goofiest movie and/or his most playful, and that’s a distinction that, depending upon the viewer, will go a long way in determining how successful it is. This is his is first collaboration with Noah Baumbach (they also co-wrote Fantastic Mr. Fox), which is interesting because both of these features rank among Anderson’s most whimsical, at least on the surface, and when you think about Baumbach (at least in comparison to Anderson) his approach is far more grounded in reality. I enjoy this movie but something about it has always felt a bit off when taken in the context of the full oeuvre. The dialogue feels stifled at times: the quips hit at a lower rate than most of his other films and this is his longest movie by over twenty minutes and — when, given its cartoonish nature — it probably should be the shortest.

It also feels somewhat disjointed: scenes and sequences play out like short stories. This gives it an unintentional anthology feel, which isn’t in and of itself a bad thing, but in the context of the greater themes, I find it to be a disservice. Anderson is constantly exploring the idea of fathers (it’s at the heart of nearly all his films) and this might be the most overt dissection of that yet. “I need to find a baby for this father,” Cate Blanchett exclaims, a stressed-out Freudian slip that sums up everything. I’ve seen this three or four times now and upon every viewing I walk away wanting to love it more. It’s the most concrete example of Anderson’s style and aesthetics amounting to less than the sum of its parts, and they’re wonderful parts: from A+ performances and characters (Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum and Bud Cort — in his only Wes Anderson role — are the highlights for me) to the fantastic animation work by the great Henry Selick.

But I think there’s something a tad undercooked in the leads played by Bill Murrary (dad) and Owen Wilson (son?). Murray excels in something like Rushmore (or other dramatic roles from his resurgence) when he’s leaning into the sad sack, depressed demeanor. He plays it too broad and too comedically here, and it doesn’t work tonally. And Wilson, whom I normally really love in these movies, well… I simply can’t get past his big southern accent. This dynamic is another major reason why the picture doesn’t totally connect with me, even though I always have a ton of fun with it in spurts.

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The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is a 2004 American adventure comedy-drama film written by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach and directed by Anderson. It is Anderson's fourth feature-length film. It was released on December 25, 2004.