The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) is so eclectic in its mish-mash of genre styling that it occasionally creates a sense of confusion. Yet, even as this blend of hodgepodge fails the film at times, there is enough unexpected delight to Anderson’s work that the film never slackens.

Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) is a burnt-out sea-film auteur/oceanographer who swears revenge on the jaguar shark that killed his partner. Ned Pinkerton (Owen Wilson) claims that Steve is his father, and tries to revive a bond that never was, becoming a part of the Zissou crew. Amidst mutiny, pirates, and other assorted dilemmas that would be too taxing to enumerate, the film charts Steve’s growing awareness of his love for his son.

Since Anderson’s previous film was largely an ensemble project, there occasionally seems to be too many conceits going on in this otherwise small film, and those tangents occasionally trouble an otherwise interesting narrative that Anderson and co-writer Noah Baumbach concoct between Steve and his (extended) family. Yet the lunacy of pirates and the Zissou crew charging an island are too madcap not to resist, and present an odd sense of intrigue, since you never know where the film is going next.

Since the beginning of the film does, unfortunately, drag, it’s the last twenty minutes that make this film. As the Zissou crew descends into the deep and pursues the mythical jaguar shark, Anderson revels in the pursuit, so that it becomes celebratory rather than mournful (i.e. no undercurrents of Moby Dick here). As a result, I found myself enjoying a narrative that even I realized was burdened by extraneous characters. And the film utilizes a snippet of one of Sigur Ros’ best songs, so you know it can’t be all bad.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: 7.5/10