60. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Wes Anderson, 2004

“Son of a bitch, I’m sick of these dolphins.”

I know that this is a strange way to start an appreciation of a film, but let me begin by saying that The Life Aquatic is by no means as good a film as The Royal Tenenbaums. It is, however, the movie I prefer. It’s a lot weirder than Tenenbaums in a lot of ways. It is also much more divisive. Pretty much everyone likes Tenenbaums; it’s certainly hard not to. As far as Life Aquatic is concerned, though, it seems about half and half, but the half that hates the film really, really hates it. To be completely honest, I don’t know what to say about that. The Life Aquatic is certainly a flawed film. It has the same wonderful look and feel of Tenenbaums, but it never quite comes together as well. Steve Zissou, the film’s main character, played by Bill Murray, is not as immediately likable as Royal Tenenbaum. He is more self obsessed and has a longer way to go toward finding his personal redemption. He is also much more aware of how far he has fallen in life. Once essentially the American Jacques Cousteau, Zissou has fallen on hard times. He sees himself as an adventurer, but has to contend with a substandard ship, substandard equipment, and a largely useless crew, populated heavily by unpaid interns. Steve’s decline in recent years is only felt more keenly thanks to the constant run ins with Alistair Hennessey, a man who now has all the equipment and fame Zissou once had, played spectacularly by Jeff Goldblum, the death of his mentor at the jaws of a Jaguar Shark, and the sudden appearance of a son, Owen Wilson as Ned Plimpton.

Despite its flaws, which I think mostly stem from a less sympathetic lead and a deeper move into Anderson’s stylistic ideals, The Life Aquatic is a lot of fun. For one thing, it is filled with just as many great characters as Tenenbaums. Steve himself is great once you get to know him and I think the interns are absolutely hilarious. Goldblum is perfect, creating in his character a cruel, yet oddly detached villain. Michael Gambon plays Steve’s off kilter manager, who makes Steve swear not to kill the shark that ate his friend, but still gives him dynamite. There is also a character named, Pele dos Santos, one of Zissou’s crew. Pele appears to be from Portugal and provides most of the music for the film. In a bizarre choice, which I think fits in very well with Anderson’s style and themes, Anderson primarily scores the film with the diagetic sound of Pele playing acoustic guitar and singing a series of David Bowie songs in Portuguese. Best of all the characters, though, is Steve’s right hand, Willem Dafoe’s Klaus. Klaus is pretty much a crazy German guy who clearly sees Steve as a father figure. He is immediately and hysterically jealous of Steve’s newfound real son. One of the film’s best moments comes when Steve splits his crew into two halves to search an island. Klaus is not on Steve’s team. Dafoe’s face instantly falls as he throws a fit. Hilarious. I’m also a big fan of the moment when Steve discovers Jeff Goldblum on the island, playing cards with his captors inside a disused resort hotel. Goldblum looks at Steve and asks, “Are you here to rescue me?” Steven nods. Goldblum gives it a moments thought, lays down his cards, and says, “Fold.” He is then shot by his captors. Trust me. It’s damn funny.

Ultimately, Life Aquatic is a much more action oriented film than any of Anderson’s other works, but it is just as fun and wonderfully strange. In the end, our characters grow in the Anderson way and we get to leave the film with a group of characters whose inner turmoil has become something else. I suppose that is a bit predictable, but, with Anderson’s films, it’s the character’s journey that matters more than the outcome and that journey is always a hell of a ride through one hell of a world.