One of the best movies in the comedy genre: “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” was panned by critics and is now moving toward cult classic status
If you find yourself searching Netflix, Disney+, Crave or Amazon and cannot decide on a movie, check out this little-known comedy gem with its all-star cast
One of my all-time favourite movies is The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, written by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach and directed by Anderson.
The adventure-comedy starring Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchette, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, and Jeff Goldblum is an actor’s movie.
The discourse is delivered dry with meaningful pauses that give each line its due. This movie is a treat for those who want to watch a dialogue-oriented comedy. For those who have enjoyed the more recent and more popular The Grand Budapest Hotel, also by Anderson, you will love The Life Aquatic.
You may also enjoy other Anderson movies including Moonrise Kingdom, The Darjeeling Limited, The Royal Tenenbaums, Bottle Rocket and The Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Of the diverse genus of movie makers, it is the ones that are writer-directors who get to me. Quentin Tarantino and Anderson, for example, possess opposing personality types, yet the dialogue they carefully craft comes with the expectation of expert delivery.
When Tarantino brought us Pulp Fiction he became a household name, then followed with the Kill Bill series. However, Tarantino came to the fore with Inglourious Basterds, and Django Unchained. Then he smashed dialogue out of the park with The Hateful Eight. Tarantino’s homage to Tinsel Town with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a gift. The latter, I have watched a dozen times. One must research the making of these films to appreciate the care and the detail that goes into making them.
The Coen brothers also have my attention. Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, Fargo, and The Big Lebowski. Fargo, I watched three times in short succession. Recently, Bradley Cooper has moved into the conversation with A Star is Born and Maestro. Although I prefer A Star is Born over Maestro by a country mile.
Most critics hated The Life Aquatic and it made little money at the box office. But critics often get movies and music wrong. For example, the industry viciously panned the Beatles — history shows just how wrong they were. Critics ripped apart Apocalypse Now and The Fight Club, we can go on.
The Life Aquatic is a long movie that can drag in parts, but not for those who are familiar with Anderson’s style of movie-making. It is rather brilliant.
The movie now harbours near cult-like status.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou plot
The movie is an homage to Jacques Cousteau. Some may argue that Anderson and Baumbach send up the 1970s television documentarian. It is indeed a comedic nod toward him and borrows from the absurd, but not in an ungraceful fashion.
Steve Zissou, played by Murray, is an oceanographer working on a new documentary at sea.
The movie gets going when Zissou’s best friend and principal diver, Esteban du Plantier, is devoured by a 10-metre-long, spotted "jaguar shark." This unfortunate incident informs the premise of Zissou’s documentary: To find and kill the so-called jaguar shark.
Perhaps not so Cousteau-like and mildly absurd, but so begins a wonderful premise.
"I'm going to go on an overnight drunk, and in ten days I'm going to set out to find the shark that ate my friend and destroy it. Anyone who wants to tag along is more than welcome," declares Zissou.
The crew on Zissou’s ship, the Belafonte, includes his estranged wife Eleanor, chief strategist, and financial backer; Pelé dos Santos, a safety expert and Brazilian guitarist who sings David Bowie songs in Portuguese. And there is Klaus Daimler, the German first-mate who considers Zissou and Esteban as father figures. Dafoe shows range here as a sensitive German. Audiences typically know him as a tough guy or an evil villain. His sensitivity will make you laugh.
"Team Zissou" is currently on the downslide of success, having not released a good documentary in years.
Ned Plimpton (Wilson), a longtime Zissou fan whose mother has recently died, believes Zissou is his father. After they meet at Zissou's latest premiere, Plimpton takes a leave from his job as an airline pilot to join the crew. As “Oseary Drakoulias,” Zissou's producer, cannot find a financier for their latest documentary, Plimpton offers his inheritance.
Oddly, a pregnant Jane Winslett-Richardson (Blanchette), is a reporter. She is on board to cover the project. Both Plimpton and Zissou are attracted to Winslett-Richardson and a competition for her attention develops. Amusingly, Daimler becomes jealous of the attention Zissou pays to Plimpton.
The crew of the Belafonte steal equipment from a remote station owned by the currently more successful oceanographer (also Eleanor's ex-husband and Zissou's rival), Alistair Hennessey. Hennessey is a character deliciously played by Goldblum.
Spoiler alerts going forward (scroll to “The quotable”)
While entering unprotected waters the crew is attacked by Filipino pirates, who steal Plimpton’s money and kidnap a crew member who writes bonds for the mission and is assigned to the documentary.
Eleanor — who had left the mission earlier — is persuaded by Zissou to rejoin the Belafonte and then leads the crew on tje rescue mission. They track Bill to an abandoned hotel on a remote island, saving him along with Hennessey, whom the pirates have also kidnapped.
Plimpton and Zissou make one last search for the shark in the ship's helicopter, but the aircraft malfunctions and it crashes. Plimpton dies from his injuries and is buried at sea. Before his death, Eleanor revealed to Jane that Zissou is sterile and therefore Plimpton could not have been his son.
Zissou finally tracks down the shark in the Belafonte's submersible but decides not to kill it. He found the shark to be stunning and he was also out of dynamite.
While watching the jaguar shark pass by, Zissou asks the universe, "I wonder if it remembers me.”
Eleanor places her hand on his shoulder to comfort him, as does Jane and the rest of the crew.
At the premiere of the documentary, which is dedicated to Plimpton, (who was acknowledged as Zissou's son), Zissou receives a standing ovation while waiting outside the theatre for the premiere to finish. The crew returns triumphantly to the ship the next day.
The quotable
Zissou, dryly to one of the abductors: “Don't point that gun at him, he's an unpaid intern.”
Zissou to Plimpton: “You can call me Stevesy.”
Plimpton: “Stevesy, what is going on? Are those hijackers?”
Zissou: “Well, out here we call them ‘pirates,’ Ned.”
Anne-Marie Sakowitz: “Do you know that you just charted us on a course through unprotected waters?”
Zissou: “Yeah, we're taking the shortcut.”
Sakowitz: “But it's outside I.M.U. jurisdiction. There isn't any protection.”
Zissou: “I know, honey. Look at the map. We go your way, that's about four inches. We go my way, it's an inch and a half. You wanna pay for the extra gas?”