Review of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) by Jackw. — 10 Oct 2006
This was one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. It doesn't surprise me that so many people didn't 'get it' ... the mixing of stories; the esoteric humor and heavy irony make the movie unreachable to some.
As an ex-zoologist who grew up watching the efforts of countless nature documentarian wanna-be's I was able to connect with the movie on an entirely different level. (Of course knowing that the over the top species in the film were done in stop action animation - with a tip of the hat to Ray Harryhausen, no less - certainly didn't hurt either!) This is one of those stories where we the viewers are left to fill in many blanks.
And that, to me, is often what can make a movie truly engaging. Not only that, but the entire way that he movie is shot, the dialogue, the flow of the story, the images makes one feel not that they are watching a story unfold, but rather that they are looking into the imagination of someone who is hearing the tale as told by someone else.
A brilliant flick, but not surprisingly not for everyone as you have to work and think to get the full value here.
This review of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) was written by Jackw. on 10 Oct 2006.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou has generally received positive reviews.
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