The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Criterion Collection (2004)

I love this movie

Loved it , the cast is always a good time....very funny...The ocean scenes are beautiful...and Angelica Houston is exceptionally quirky! December 29, 2008

Mock you mentally

A totally wacked out film, and the second Bill Murray flick about a guy who may or may not be coming face to face with the son he may have had with an old flame (see also Dead Flowers). This time, though, he's got a cast of eccentric sidekicks, among them Seu Jorge (from City of God, who spends most of his time singing old David Bowie songs in Portuguese) and Willem Defoe (difficult to recognize here, since he's playing a supporting role, as a cranky German). There's also Bud Cort, fat and balding, as a kidnapped accountant, and Cate Blanchett stunning as a pregnant journalist. Owen Wilson, omnipresent on a Wes Anderson set, is there as Bill Murray's son, he's the weakest part of the film. Witty Woody Allen-esque dialogue and quirky scene changes abound, and the encounter with pirates is pure garbage... but it's nice garbage. December 25, 2008

All wet

Jacques Cousteau-type filmmaker Steve Zissou is off to film his search for the jaguar shark that killed his partner. Among the motley crew aboard are his disinterested wife, a pregnant journalist, and a man who may be his son.

Bill Murray plays the title character with an unrelenting poker-face, so dour and expressionless that I couldn't relate to him at all. I kept waiting for some of the silliness that Murray does so well, but Steve remained a one-dimensional character throughout. This type of humor escaped me completely. I thought it was tiresome and might have made a good 30-minute film, but not a full-length film. Cate Blanchett was wasted as the journalist as was Jeff Goldblum as a competing filmmaker. Owen Wilson, playing Steve's possible son, was appealing but couldn't make up for the other lifeless characters and the pointless script.

If the director's odd take on humor isn't enough reason to skip this film, there's the terrible DVD commentary, which was recorded in a busy restaurant and is impossible to listen to. Disappointing. December 17, 2008

Deeeeeeeeeep Philosophy

This movie is about a journey in the past, beneath ocean surface to find something for fulfilling the sweet feelings of friendship an adventurous tycoon might never ever be experiencing in the rest of this life.

Pirates, sex, plenty of shaped, body-built males and many crouches clad into tight swimmers.

Perhaps, a heavy advertising reflects rather who were involved in creating this work rather than on a feature itself symbolising a life journey of outgoing persons, or?
December 14, 2008

Not one of Bill Murray's best

Owen Wilson puts in the best turn in this. There are some funny scenes, but the dry humour doesn't always work that well and while Bill Murray is always good, this isn't him at his best, which is a shame.

Worth watching. November 18, 2008

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