Review of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) by Jeff G — 17 Mar 2012

This film is highly underrated. It failed to make much money at the box office, likely because it is hard to categorize. Wes Anderson's real strength is his ability to lay on texture and subtlety, and yet there is an expectation that he will be funny. This movie IS funny, but in a delicate and realistic way. The story is, furthermore, elegantly layered and constructed, but tends to fall into place rather than drive the story. In this sense its more realistic and less Hollywood.

In ironic contrast to the realistic pace and subtle humor, Anderson overlays the film with certain artifices that comment on the comic book status of the hero Zissou, wonderfully portrayed by Bill Murray. In this way the underwater scenes take on an artificial flavor, the team uniforms are oddly dated and reminiscent of 60s comic book characters. The team's theme music is silly and simplistic, deliberately trying to be modern, not being much of anything. Anderson also shoots scenes on the crew's ship that expose the fact that it is really a set, and so as we see this movie about a man filming a movie, in reality, we engage in sort of an infinite regression as to what is reality and what is film.

In that vein, Ned, played by Owen Wilson, is infinitely subtle as Zissou's son he never knew. A southern country gentleman, his manners and his understated charm never leave him even as his life slips away.

It is precisely because of the understated charms and subtle layering of this film that its long term value is greater than that of other films that were bigger at the box office. Anderson is a serious film maker who puts real thought into his work, and this film is interesting, original, noteworthy and profound. Count me as a member of Team Zissou.