Mutant Reviewers from Hell do
"I'm so pissed I want to spit!"

2004 R / Adventure Comedy Directed by: Wes Anderson Starring: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett

Tagline

No tagline

Summary Capsule

With a plan to exact revenge on a mythical shark that killed his partner, oceanographer Steve Zissou rallies a crew that includes his estranged wife, a journalist, and a man who may or may not be his son.

Mutant Meter

Movie Store [proceeds go toward monthly MRFH upkeep]

Amazon.com: DVD | Amazon.com: Soundtrack

Nancy's Rating: I love it when everything I love is compressed into a lovely cinematic experience for the world to love as well.
Nancy's Review: I’m not into a whole lot, to be quite frank. This many surprise you. Often I will say “I totally love kung fu!” or “I’m sooooo into Sex And The City!”. But I’ve found a habit in my music taste that parallels my actual life. A lot of the time, I will dig the cliché of something, or be in the mood for it. There are very few bands that I enjoy as well as respect as people, but there are a lot of bands that I get in the mood for. Same with movies and things in life. There’s not a lot that I really love but there is a lot that I will get into for the sake of the cliché/my mood of the day.

"I feel I’ll be more of a preview that way, flashing images and shouting emotions while giving a brief sense of the plot until you’re so incredibly seduced by my deep voice that you dedicate the next week of your life to seeing the movie."

The point of that little delve into my psyche is The Life Aquatic comprises a few things that I really genuinely love, that I’m not just ‘in the mood for’ sometimes, but I really think are essential components to my existence. For example, acoustic guitar in a language I don’t understand (in this case, Porteguese). And also, Bill Murray. Fish and Wes Anderson.

If you ask me on any given day if I really want to go to an aquarium, watch Rushmore or see a Seu Jorge concert, I guarantee I will say yes. If you ask me if I’m down for a Nightmare On Elm Street marathon or should we go see the Beastie Boys? ...my answer will be dependent on my mood. So, in short, this movie is going to be biased.

But short of the fact that it plays on my selling points like cigarettes do to chain smokers, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou is a very sweet movie, slow-paced but oddly humorous with red hats. It is basically the story of a man hitting his mid-life crisis, in terms of relationships ending, new ones beginning and what he counted on his whole life not being as valid as he thought it was. He’s facing conviction. What is unique about this film is instead of buying an Porsche, he fights a shark.

I’ve noticed I have a habit of being incredibly vague in my plot recaps. But I really would rather tell you about how this movie makes me feel then tell you what happens. I feel I’ll be more of a preview that way, flashing images and shouting emotions while giving a brief sense of the plot until you’re so incredibly seduced by my deep voice that you dedicate the next week of your life to seeing the movie.

Or something like that. I don’t really know, I’m just trying to get you to see this movie.

Bill Murray is in the later parts of his transition from kooky comedy to serious fricken drama. He’s still hilarious but he’s got real sincerity starting to shine through. I love that in his earlier films you can start to see the melancholy and as the films progress there gets to be more drama but you can still always see the humor. I feel like The Life Aquatic just crossed the halfway mark, with sincerity and serious issues beginning to surface, but still maintaining a real unique sense of humor.

I don’t mean to Bill Murray freak-out here, although that tends to happen whenever his name is in the credits. The rest of the cast is just as spectacular, with major props for Willem DaFoe for delivering some of the most hilarious lines. Also, brief spots by my friends Bud Cort and Jeff Goldblum – both of which I’ve had mini-joke-obsessions with – and Angelica Huston being as beautiful and mysterious as ever. And despite the fact that I hate their accents, both Cate Blanchett and Owen Wilson are quite convincing.

One look at the back of my DVD case makes me giggle (I had to figure out how to spell ‘Blanchett’. It’s one of those movies where the humor is so deeply embedded in the universe it creates, that everything that happens is just hilarious, just because it’s happening. Bill sneezes? I’m rolling in the aisle. Owen hands Cate a cupcake? My sides! They are splitting!

Anyway, it’s a Wes Anderson movie, and if you’ve seen the others, you know exactly what you are in for. He’s got his own little world where he lets his characters hang out in and having their deep emotional and existential dilemmas. If you are along for the ride, with the crazy visuals (Check out the fish!) and cool soundtrack (Iggy Pop!), then hop on the boat. It’s glass-bottom, with a weird sense of humor, and it’s a little drunk.

Kyle's Rating: and when I find myself falling for some girl / I hop right on the boat of mine / drive around the world
Kyle's Review: As I wait, for some ungodly reason, to finally see The Darjeeling Limited (once again half a year's worth of attempts to see Darjeeling in theater lead to only pain and near-amputation), I sip a delicious blended chai beverage containing who knows what and contemplate The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

"Actually, that may have been the stupidest sentence I have ever written in my tenure as a Mutant Reviewer."

Must like The Royal Tenenbaums, it took repeated viewings for me to immerse myself fully into this particular universe and learn how to properly "dig it." (Rushmore, almost surely because of its academically-grounded story, connected immediately with the younger endless-student me). In fact, it took being recruited as a chaperone meant to prevent an inkling of romance between a friend (who didn't want to be alone with a particular girl) and the girl (who was also a friend and wanted to be more with the other guy) for me to really "get it," especially since there I was stuck on the couch between the willing and the unwilling and the only escape was Life Aquatic on my friend's thankfully massive HD screen.

Wes Anderson movies, as has been observed here and millions of other pretentious websites, inhabit their own worlds. The meticulously-chosen soundtracks are usually the key to unlocking the emotional entry point into the heart of each film, but I strongly recommend feeling slightly useless and/or metaphorically "trapped" in your life to really empathize with Steve Zissou. And if you happen to be watching the movie with a friend who is a renowned pothead, that helps quite a bit, too.

For me, ultimately beyond all the Anderson trappings and quirks this is a story about regaining your purpose. Actually, that may have been the stupidest sentence I have ever written in my tenure as a Mutant Reviewer. If only because the point of the film is so obvious that now I feel like an idiot for even seeming to pretend like I and I alone solved the mystery of the narrative. Whoa!

Let me try a different tact: what I really dig about this movie is that, even throughout the (*spoiler!*) triumphant ending for Steve and his surviving crew, there are very few honest moments in the film. It's sort of like Anderson turned his own brand of storytelling on its head, knowing that in his prior films his characters expressed their inner drama and demons through quirks and hilariously elliptical dialogue. Here, everyone uses quirks and quirky dialogue as shields and ways to avoid saying what should be said: rather than express themselves, everyone is sticking their heads further in the sand as the running time progresses.

All of which brings us to the point where it seems the only "true" moment in the film, which is absolutely not coincidentally my very favorite moment, is when Steve asks Cate Blanchett's character if she will help them in some minor way. In response, chewing her omnipresent chewing gum, she simply shrugs.

Completely minor gesture, genius character moment. How many ships have been launched and lives lost on the basis of an indiscriminate shrug? Do even the most ardent of history majors know? DOUBT IT.

Perhaps Wes Anderson knows. Perhaps not. But through his films, we can all continue to guess and wonder. What more could anyone ask for?

He's like those little kids who sit in their parents' parked cars and makes the "VROOOM!" noise "No, fish do not generally judge our fashion sense. Thank goodness." Max Capacity: 1 Max, 15 Others.

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• The word "terrified" is misspelled as "terrifed" in the subtitles early in the movie.
• When Steve and Ned are in the helicopter, they're supposedly far out in remote "unprotected waters". There's a two-masted sailboat visible over Steve's right shoulder in several shots. In the same sequence, the water beneath the helicopter is shallow and churning with brown sand, indicating this was shot very near a beach.
• When reading the six volume novel to her unborn child, Jane is holding one volume in her hands while six others are lying on the chair, which makes it a seven volume novel.
• The last shot slows down from normal speed to slow motion, which is Wes Anderson’s trademark.

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

I can’t believe I haven’t yet… I so will later and I’ll let you know.

Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]

During filming, Bill Murray became a certified diver, logging over 40 hours.

Steve Zissou was written with Bill Murray in mind and according to Wes Anderson, it "could have been no one else".

The film is dedicated to Jacques-Yves Cousteau; Cousteau's ship was The Calypso. Zissou's ship is called the Belafonte; Harry Belafonte became famous singing Calypso songs.

Seu Jorge plays the character of "Pelé Dos Santos". Pelé has been Brazil's greatest soccer player, his real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, and like with most soccer players, when they make the major leagues, they get "re-baptised" with a nickname. Another important player was Manuel Francisco dos Santos, aka 'Garrincha.' Brazil's national team never lost when both were playing.

Seu Jorge translated the David Bowie songs into Brazilian Portuguese and arranged them for guitar himself.

Groovy Quotes

Ned Plimpton: I'm gonna fight you, Steve.
Steve Zissou: You never say, "I'm gonna fight you, Steve." You just smile and act natural, and then you sucker-punch him.

Festival Director: [translating] That's an endangered species at best. What would be the scientific purpose of killing it?
Steve Zissou: Revenge.

Steve Zissou: Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go on an overnight drunk, and in 10 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.

Steve Zissou: I'm going to find it and I'm going to destroy it. Possibly with dynamite.

Ned Plimpton: Stevesy, what's going on? Are those hijackers?
Steve Zissou: Well, out here we call them "pirates," Ned.

Steve Zissou: Wolodarsky, go get the keys to that fishing boat, and throw them in the water. No, wait. They might have another set. Just blow it up.

Eleanor Zissou: What do you want?
Steve Zissou: Do you mind if I butter you up a little before I answer that question?
Eleanor Zissou: Yes, I do. Tell me now.
Steve Zissou: [takes a deep breath] I need some money to get the boat out of hock and rescue my bond company stooge who got kidnapped. Could we ask your parents to loan it to me?
Eleanor Zissou: No.
Steve Zissou: Okay. Could I go ahead and butter you up anyway? It took me two and a half hours to get out here.

Steve Zissou: Oh! Swamp leeches. Everybody, check for swamp leeches, and pull them off... Nobody else got hit? I'm the only one? What's the deal?

Steve Zissou: I hope you're not gonna bust out chops on this on, Bill.
Bill Ubell: Why would I do that?
Steve Zissou: Because you're a bond company stooge.
Bill Ubell: [scoffs] I'm also a human being.
Steve Zissou: All right, I take that back. How about a little teamsmanship?
[he holds out his hand flat. Bill and Ned put theirs on top of his]
Steve Zissou, Bill Ubell, Ned Plimpton: Ho!

Alistair Hennessey: I'm so pissed I want to spit!

Steve Zissou: It's a documentary! It's all really happening!

Steve Zissou: This is an adventure.

If you liked this movie, try these:

• I Heart Huckabees
• Bottle Rocket
• Lost In Translation