The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

12/10/20041h 59m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ The deeper you go, the weirder life gets. ~

Overview:

Renowned oceanographer Steve Zissou has sworn vengeance upon the rare shark that devoured a member of his crew. In addition to his regular team, he is joined on his boat by Ned, a man who believes Zissou to be his father, and Jane, a journalist pregnant by a married man. They travel the sea, all too often running into pirates and, perhaps more traumatically, various figures from Zissou's past, including his estranged wife, Eleanor.

Director:

Wes Anderson

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$50,000,000.00

Revenue:

$34,808,403.00

Key words:

parent child relationship
red cap
dysfunctional family
rivalry
pirate
magic realism
estranged father
oceanography
scientific expedition
father son relationship
diorama
research turtles
acoustic guitar
brazilian character

Cast

Bill Murray

~ as ~

Steve Zissou

Owen Wilson

~ as ~

Ned Plimpton

Cate Blanchett

~ as ~

Jane Winslett-Richardson

Anjelica Huston

~ as ~

Eleanor Zissou

Willem Dafoe

~ as ~

Klaus Daimler

Jeff Goldblum

~ as ~

Alistair Hennessey

Michael Gambon

~ as ~

Oseary Drakoulias

Noah Taylor

~ as ~

Vladimir Wolodarsky

Bud Cort

~ as ~

Bill Ubell

Seu Jorge

~ as ~

Pelé dos Santos

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 month(s) ago
6
So a giant shark gobbles up his lifelong partner and Jacques Cousteau’s stunt double “Steve Zissou” (Bill Murray) promptly embarks his crew aboard his converted WWII mine hunter and sets off in search of this leviathan of the seas. Of course, “Zissou” has spent so much of his life pursuing his quest for aquatic greatness that his domestic life is a bit of a mess, and that only gets more complicate when “Ned” (Owen Wilson) shows up claiming to be his long lost son. Who knew what, when and why is quickly swept under the rubber mats as he, too, joins in the search for the menacing beast along with journalist “Jane” (Cate Blanchett) for whom they both take a bit of a shine! Meantime, “Zissou” hasn’t got too much cash, but luckily his wealthy nemesis “Hennessey” (Jeff Goldblum) has a few well stocked facilities he can pilfer from and so armed with some “borrowed” tech they set off into an un-policed zone where dangers lurk both above and below the water line. I suppose fans of Murray might get more from this, or even the dry as a bone Wilson - but for me this was all just a bit too contrived; it’s not remotely funny and if you ever saw “Le monde du silence” (1956) then you’ll have most of the basic premise laid out for you. There ought to have been some fine underwater photography but nope, not really - just a mix of dysfunctional family life and a distinct lack of aquatic life tapered to the comedic talents of a cast that offers loads of cameos but not too much else. Watchable enough, but no great shakes - sorry.