The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

By Simon Woodhouse

Comedies are a bit like horror films. Ok, I don't mean that literally, but what person A finds scary, person B doesn't, in the same way what person A might find funny, person B won't. The Life Aquatic is to comedy films what The Blair Witch Project is to horror movies. Some people found The Blair Witch terrifying, buying into the whole premise and managing to understand what the film makers were trying to do. Whilst on the other hand, chunks of the audience thought it was a really badly made, amateurish piece of work, featuring over-excitable, reality TV wannabes. The Life Aquatic has a similar affect on people - you either like it or you don't.

If your idea of a comedy is something involving fresh-faced teens who are constantly trying to score, whilst at the same time participating in 'jokes' that involve unpleasant bodily functions, then The Life Aquatic probably isn't going to be for you. On the other hand, if you're the sort of person who's amused by a constant stream of character driven witticisms that don't have to be hysterical to be funny, you might enjoy it.

Bill Murray plays the title role of Steve Zissou, a has-been oceanographer whose documentaries aren't finding an audience anymore. He's an eccentric character, who during his previous voyage witnessed the death of his life long friend Esteban du Plantier (Seymour Cassel), in the jaws of the infamous jaguar shark. Deeply affected by this, Steve vows to find the creature and kill it, whilst at the same time making a documentary about the whole episode.

Anyone familiar with the legendary, real life oceanographer Jacques Cousteau (and if you're under thirty five that probably rules you out), will recognize the visual inspiration behind Steve Zissou and his operation. All of Team Zissou wear brightly colored wooly hats, and their boat has a helicopter sat on deck, two things that always appeared in Cousteau documentaries. But because this parody might be lost on a large part of the audience, it makes you wonder why the film makers included it.

Steve Zissuo comes across as a little eccentric, but when compared to other members of his crew he's not all that odd. Chief amongst the weirdos that make up Team Zissou is Klaus Daimler (Willem Dafoe), second in command on Steve's ship The Belafonte. Other larger than life characters come in the form of Steve's producer Oseary Drakoulias (Michael Gambon), his wife Eleanor (Anjelica Huston) and his arch nemesis Alistair Hennessey (Jeff Goldblum). There's also the ship's safety expert Pele dos Santos (Seu Jorge), who's always singing David Bowie songs in Portuguese, whilst documentary script writer Anne-Marie Sakowitz (Robyn Cohen), is constantly topless.

As the team are preparing to set out in search of the jaguar shark, Steve meets Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), a young man who may or may not be his son. Ned is persuaded to go along on the voyage, and becomes a member of Team Zissou. The final participant in the expedition is magazine columnist Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett), who's there to write a warts-and-all piece on Steve.

Any movie that includes a cast such as this is bound to feature top-notch acting. The gold medals here go to Bill Murray and Cate Blanchett, both of whom have nailed their respective characters. Owen Wilson and Willem Defoe are also very watch-able, as are Anjelica Huston and Jeff Goldblum.

As the film progresses, Team Zissou become involved in a series of well-written set pieces, including steeling equipment from their rival's underwater laboratory, being attacked by pirates, and mounting a commando-style raid to rescue a kidnapped insurance actuary. During all of this Steve looses his wife to arch rival Hennessey, tries to win the affections of reporter Jane and grows closer to his maybe-son Ned. Some of these scenes do contain laugh-out-loud moments, but mostly the humor will make you smile rather than guffaw. Steve's uncaring attitude to a lot of the people around him (especially a group of college interns working on The Belafonte), never comes across as spiteful - it's just the way he is. Though the ending isn't unexpected, it does contain an element of unforeseen sadness. But this bittersweet finale fits the film, as it began with the death of Steve's friend.

Not very well received by critics and audiences alike, I think The Life Aquatic is the sort of movie that'll go on to achieve something of a cult status. Directed and co-written by Wes Anderson, another clue as to whether you'll like this film or not can be found in your appreciation of one of his earlier movies, The Royal Tenenbaums. The Life Aquatic contains a similar sort of humor, delivered by an ensemble cast of oddball characters. The general consensus seems to be that Tenenbaums is a better film, but for me The Life Aquatic wins that duel. It's not quite so brooding as Tenenbaums, and contains a more bizarre sense of humor. Most people will be able to tell within the first fifteen minutes whether they're pro or anti. If you're anti you won't watch much more than fifteen minutes, if you're pro you'll be there right to the end, and then probably want to watch the movie again immediately afterwards - I did.