The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) Movie Review: Made after โRoyal Tenenbaumsโ (2001) – one of the benchmark works in Wes Anderson’s filmography – โThe Life Aquaticโ (2004) fell under the weight of crushing expectations as many such follow-ups do.ย Spike Lee once said that filmmakers like Elia Kazan and Billy Wilder often do their best work when they follow up their big commercial hits like Ace in the Hole and Face in the Crowd because theyโre allowed to experiment. Anderson simply used a bigger budget to deliver something stylistically different from its predecessor. It was a recipe for high expectations upon its 2004 release, but the film deserves a re-evaluation when watched later in time.
Anderson created the film as a homage to the wondrous undersea world of oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. His title character Steve Zissou (played by Anderson regular Bill Murray), is a deep sea explorer who creates the kind of films that anyone who shares a Cousteau fanโs love of the sea would enjoy, particularly with Andersonโs undeniable gift for visuals. If Wes Anderson is guilty of self-indulgence, the โThe Let Me Tell You About My Boatโ sequence is a welcome dose of vanity.
At the same time, the film is centered around a jaded character on a downhill slide. Steve Zissou is what would happen if Jacques Cousteau caught a few bad breaks later in life. To the degree that good character development is revealed through the unpeeling of layers, Steve Zissou appears to be more and more of an empty construct as we learn more about him.ย Itโs revealed that heโs more of a showman than a scientist. Additionally, the presence of journalist Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett) on his expedition means that he must always be in front of her.
Itโs perhaps the pressure of tighter funding or the fact that he was always ugly, to begin with, that Zissou becomes more and more defeated as he realizes he canโt control his narrative. Itโs probably not accidental that the cultured Zissou canโt seem to connect the dots between his quest to hunt down the shark that killed his best friend and the doomed Captain Ahab. The brains behind his operation, estranged wife Eleanor (Anjelica Huston), advises against the mission. This canโt be a good sign.
Thereโs also the blaring juxtaposition that killing any animal is pretty much the antithesis of any scientific expedition. At a certain point, one wonders if the โscientific labโ that Zissou advertises in his โLet Me Tell You About My Boatโ sequence has any application beyond the aesthetic. Zissou, after all, admits at one point that no one in his crew is an oceanographer.
Wes Anderson has a unique style, but whatโs overlooked is how well the detailed craftwork serves the story.ย The typography is not only memorable and period-appropriate, but it blurs that reality because it opens both the movie and the documentary-within-the-film. The soundtrack is another example of this brilliance. Portuguese covers of David Bowie songs are diegetically worked into the soundtrack through Seu Jorge playing a crew member. In more reality-shaking moments, the death of Steveโs probable long-lost son or Steve nearing on his imaginary shark quest, non-diegetic songs like โSearch and Destroyโ (Iggy and the Stooges), โThe Way I Feel Insideโ (The Zombies), or even the original David Bowie version of โLife on Marsโ overtake the soundscape.
The Life Aquaticโs most significant flaw might be its bloated cast. Acting titans like Bud Cort, Jeff Goldblum, and Michael Gambon are stuck in minor, thankless roles that could have gone to character actors. With his accent and childlike sense of neediness, Willem Dafoeโs sidekick character can best be described as wacky. Distinguished actors like Gene Hackman and Danny Glover lent themselves to lighter character roles for โThe Royal Tenenbaums.โ Still, it feels like Dafoe crosses too far over a line of hamminess for this to be a dignified addition to his filmography.
At the same time, the cast size seems retrospectively quaint compared to the unchecked gargantuan of late-stage Anderson. If someone didnโt enjoy Life Aquatic for its bloat, it would be hard for them not to reconsider when โThe French Dispatchโ (or even a consensus masterpiece like โGrand Budapest Hotelโ) boasted superfluous star cameos in over half the roles.
The most significant moment in โThe Life Aquatic with Steve Zissouโ is a simple hug between two rivals. The scene occurs towards the movie’s end: The title character Steve Zissou (Bill Murray), expresses a defeated sigh to his opponent, Allistair Hennesy (Goldblum). โWeโve never made great husbands, have we?โ Zissou says about his estranged wife, to whom Hennessy was also married. โOf course, I have a good excuse. Iโm part gay,โ responds Hennesy as the two exchange an embrace out of nowhere.
This is the essence of what Wes Anderson is about.ย His stories are about one emotion- the common human need to belong โ that trumps all the others. In the same way, Wes Andersonโs glamorous visual facades withhold a more complex emotional state. Wayward emotions like jealousy, respect, self-actualization, and navigating drifting love are framing devices that drive the story. Steve Zissou, and most Wes Anderson protagonists, are really after a universal human connection. Even if it means from a rival. The story can never become too dour when the protagonist is never more than a hug away from being saved from misery. Wes Anderson’s films have an overarching theme of human connection, and โThe Life Aquatic with Steve Zissouโ is no exception.