The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou film review

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THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU

In Wes Anderson's quirky new comedy, Bill Murray plays a jaded sea captain, a latter-day Jacques Cousteau-figure who was once a household name thanks to his pioneering ways as an underwater explorer and documentary film-maker. Steve and his boat the Belafonte have seen better days: now he fights to find funding for his films, is only appreciated by foreign audiences and has serious competition from Jeff Goldblum's Alistair Hennessey, a suave sea rival with every mod con at his convenience. When Steve's long-term partner is eaten by a mysterious creature, he decides to seek vengeance, and with cameras at the ready sets off on his greatest mission yet.

Accompanying Steve are a crew full of oddballs, including a singer who strums David Bowie songs in Portuguese, a newly-discovered grown-up son (Owen Wilson) and an inquisitive reporter (Cate Blanchett) who is determined to profile the real Zissou. There's also Steve's wife (a fierce Angelica Huston) who is becoming increasingly frustrated with his errant ways, and a loyal but ineffective benefactor (Michael Gambon) who attempts to keep Steve's financial predicament above water. Not easy when your Captain is a law unto himself, and when pirates capture the ship off the coast of Africa it seems that this could be the Belafonte's last mission.

Murray is, as usual, a perfect piece of casting. When confronted with the news that Owen Wilson is his long-lost son, he excuses himself, walks to the front of the boat and lights a large joint. Zissou is nonchalant but in control and worshipped by his team, and you feel that the assembled actors feel the same way about Murray. In his bright red cap and slipstream blue uniform he certainly recalls another age, but one that for good or bad has now definitely disappeared. If the film has any message or struggle to impart then it's about Zissou's increasingly floundering attempts to defy the passage of time.

Those who have seen, and liked, Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums will find The Life Acquatic familiar and welcome territory. Its sense of absurdity, parody and general madness is often entertaining to watch, and the joy of recreating an anachronistic world is evident from the elaborate art design and Robert Yeoman's spot-on cinematography.