The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

Directed by Wes Anderson. Starring Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Anjelica Huston, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, Bud Cort, Robyn Cohen, Seu Jorge. [R]

Jacques Cousteau-like oceanographer, Steve Zissou (Murray), is trying to find financial backing for a “revenge mission”—find and kill the sea beast responsible for the death of his best friend—when he’s visited by a young man named Ned (Wilson) claiming to be Zissou’s son. Wes Anderson dedicates this comic adventure to Cousteau, the next evolutionary step toward a pure distillation of what was quickly becoming his signature style, and uneven as it is, most of his fans will lap it up. Plenty of quirky and satisfying elements to be found—Seu Jorge’s Portuguese David Bowie covers, Henry Selick’s animated sea creatures, eccentric touches from the supporting cast (Willem Dafoe as the German first mate jealous of the attention Zissou is giving to Ned, Jeff Goldblum as Zissou’s pompous yet sly rival/nemesis, etc.)—but it never quite gels, and the emotional moments don’t ring true, especially in regard to the central father-son(-ish) relationship. This mannered elusiveness would plague the filmmaker’s lesser work, too, but the fledgling whole is overcome by the enjoyable sum of its parts on balance. Given a lead role for the only time among numerous collaborations with Anderson, Murray is in fine form, deadpan and detached and frequently humorous, but neither Wilson nor Cate Blanchett (playing a pregnant reporter along for the ride) get a firm grasp on the cadence or accents of their speech, and each of their performances leave something to be desired. Screenplay written by Anderson and Noah Baumbach.

67/100