The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissuo

Wes Anderson makes quirky movies: Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited. They're all a little odd; the dialogue is short, direct and dry. The same could be said for the plot. It gives the movies and interesting re-watchable sort of humor. Every Anderson movie I've seen also carries some sort of weird but surprisingly poignant message beneath the humor. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is no exception.

A good friend recommended I watch Life Aquatic. Thanks, friend. The basic premise is a washed-up biological documentary maker goes on a quest to hunt down the "jaguar shark" that killed his head diver while simultaneously turning the quest into its own documentary.

First of all, the cast is stacked: Bill Murray (the washed-up doc. maker), Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Anjelica Huston, it goes on.

And, as is the case with any Wes Anderson movie I've seen, not one character is perfect or wholly likeable. Murray is a grumpy has-been, more often seen with a jay in his mouth than not. Owen Wilson is overly trusting to the point it's obnoxious. Cate Blanchett is a reporter that got knocked up by an editor who wont cover her travel expenses. And Willem Dafoe is, as always, completely bonkers.

Without ruining anything, the plot is a whirly-bird, much akin to The Big Lebowski. It'll take you places you weren't expecting and didn't wholly want to go – but that's what makes it great. In a comedy, I'll always take pointless plot turns over artistic or meaningful ones. Except, in the case of this movie, the pointlessness of some of the plot turns may make it meaningful. I don't want to ruin anything, but if you watch it, keep that in mind. I may be crazy, or I may be on to something. I'll have to watch it again.

Anywho, the best aspect of this movie is the interaction between characters. The dialogues, as I've said before, are dry and near devoid of emotion, but at the same time, incredibly funny when they're intended to be.

Here's an example.

Notice how there's someone washing a cat in the background, and then notice the killer whale swimming about. Completely unnecessary, but they make the scene.

And, like I said before, the dialogue between Murray and Blanchett is quirky and quick. "I'm sorry, I was only trying to defend myself." I mean, that's so understated, but it's so funny.

In many ways, that's what the entire movie is like. Quirky, understatedly funny interactions between generally well developed characters, and a zany plot that I wont dive into (pun intended).

I really don't have anything negative to say about this movie. I don't fancy myself a film critic, but if I had to, I'd put this, and the rest of Wes Anderson's work, on the top shelf.

Take a trip with Steve Zissou, you'll like this movie more than his documentaries.