Barnes & Noble

By his third film, The Royal Tennenbaums, Wes Anderson had developed a discernable, idiosyncratic filmmaking style, full of richly-drawn oddballs, fractured families, loose storytelling, '60s rock, and a visual attention to detail that borders on obsessive-compulsive. Using much of the same cast, The Life Aquatic could almost be The Tennenbaums at Sea, though the family this time is the crew of the oceanographic ship, The Belafonte, and the patriarch is Steve Zissou (Bill Murray, in fine, melancholic form), a Cousteau-inspired captain and maker of undersea documentaries. Unfortunately, Zissou's films have become increasingly less popular, and both The Belafonte and its captain are in disrepair. To try and drum up publicity for his latest quest -- finding and killing the "jaguar shark" that ate his best friend -- he's invited a journalist (Cate Blanchett), who intends to pen a hatchet job on him. Also along for the ride is Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson) who claims to be Zissou's illegitimate son, which doesn't sit well with first mate Willem Dafoe. Complicating matters is Zissou's high-tech rival, Alistair Hennessey (Jeff Goldblum), who has never forgiven him for stealing his wife (Anjelica Houston). Zissou and crew will face pirates, love triangles, kidnappings, Bud Cort, and other diversions before finding the elusive jaguar shark. The Life Aquatic is the first film Anderson has made without co-writer Owen Wilson, working instead with Kicking and Screaming writer-director Noah Baumbach, and it's also his least focused effort so far. One senses that Anderson is more interested in costume design and such background details as the wallpaper, books on shelves, and knickknacks than he is in the plot. Still, these sundry diversions make the film worth watching, from the guitar-strumming crewmember performing David Bowie songs in Portugese, to the whimsical sea creatures crafted by animator Henry Selick. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is overloaded and meandering, yet this leaky vessel never sinks, thanks to Anderson's myriad talents as a filmmaker. Bill Pearis

All Movie Guide

The first effort from director Wes Anderson since his critically beloved The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou finds the filmmaker re-teaming with a number of familiar faces, including Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, and Seymour Cassel. Murray plays Steve Zissou, an eccentric and renowned oceanographer who has decided to seek out and enact mortal revenge on a shark that ate one of the men on his team. Along for the ride is Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), a young man who has joined Zissou's crew after showing up claiming to be the seaman's long-lost son and Zissou's co-producer (and estranged wife), Eleanor Angelica Huston. As the expedition ensues, the two bond and Plimpton falls for a female journalist (Cate Blanchett) who is writing a piece on Zissou. The crew meets a host of obstacles on their journey, including pirates, kidnapping, and bankruptcy. Adding a flair of whimsy to the film's aesthetic, the sea creatures and underwater scenes in the film have been created using stop-motion animation under the direction of Henry Selick, the man behind The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. The ensemble cast also includes Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, and Bud Cort. Matthew Tobey

New York Times

Murray's quiet, downcast presence modulates the antic busyness that encircles him, and his performance is a triumph of comic minimalism. A.O. Scott

Los Angeles Times

An exquisitely evocative movie that elevates rueful melancholia to a superpower. Carina Chocano

Product Details

• UPC: 786936242942
• Source: TOUCHSTONE / DISNEY
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Français, Español
• Time: 1:58:00
• Sales Rank: 24,889

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