THE BILLY BALDWIN OF WES ANDERSON FILMS

By: B -- 1/3/05

When a director has enjoyed the kind of career Wes Anderson has, expectations from critics usually balloon to sky-high proportions. Personally, I’ve always found it unfair. One would hope a respectable journalist could separate the film from its director and review it independently, but that’s rarely the case. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou has received only lukewarm reviews so far, and I can’t help but think that it’s losing points because Anderson’s past work (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums) has been so brilliant. What if Life Aquatic was the debut of a new director? Would the praise be stronger?

Anderson’s new vehicle begins with a screening of filmmaker Steve Zissou’s most recent documentary, titled The Jaguar Shark: Part One. In Part One, the elusive jaguar shark -- never captured on film -- kills a key crew member. After the film is shown, Zissou (Bill Murray) reveals the plan for the sequel documentary (and the overall plot of the Life Aquatic film): to find the shark and kill it. When told that the species is rare, Zissou is asked what the scientific motive of the murder would be. His scientific answer: revenge. The Life Aquatic covers roughly four weeks on the ocean outside France as Zissou and his crew attempt to locate the shark.

The film is at once a parody of underwater documentaries (I think – I’ve never seen an underwater doc), an action film and a simple character study. While the crew is struggling to find the mysterious shark, Zissou is trying to patch up relationships with his wife Eleanor (Angelica Huston), the brains and funding behind the documentaries, his probable son Ned (Owen Wilson, who deftly handles a new character-type), and Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett), a five-months pregnant journalist on board to write a cover story about Zissou and his crew.

Numerous troubles quickly arise – Zissou’s probably-gay nemesis Alistair Hennessey (Jeff Goldblum), faulty equipment, broken laws, pirates, etc – but none of these things matter. The story revolves around Zissou attempting to make something of his life.

While the star power in Life Aquatic is bright, this is largely a Bill Murray vehicle. The fact that Murray dominates nearly every scene makes his tepid performance all the more disappointing. Murray is wonderful with what little material he has to work with, but nonetheless it feels like a letdown.

Murray’s Zissou is an arrogant, selfish know-it-all (who’s usually wrong), but also incredibly insecure. Despite his smug bravado, Zissou just wants to be liked. And though he has a few clever moments (“I’m sorry I never acknowledged your existence. It won’t happen again, I promise.”), he’s mostly a self-righteous bore. Zissou is closer to Murray’s Raleigh St. Clair from Tenenbaums than the infinitely more hilarious Herman Blume in Rushmore.

While the jokes aren’t as strong, The Life Aquatic is all told through the familiar Wes Anderson lens. Each character is given a quirky attribute: the woman on board is topless most of the time, first mate Klais Daimler (Willem Dafoe) is far too sensitive, and there’s another crew member who spends his time playing acoustic David Bowie covers. Throw in the silly costumes worn by each crew member (along with customized Adidas shoes) and Aquatic becomes vintage Wes.

Just after The Royal Tenenbaums was released, Anderson was asked what his next movie was going to be about. He said he envisioned a big-budget type movie, with grand sets and exotic scenery, but at the heart of it all would be this simple, cute story. That is a fairly accurate description of Aquatic. It’s full of fights, deaths, explosions, shootouts and robberies, but they really have nothing to do with the story. Aquatic is really about one man, Steve Zissou, trying to come to grips that his best years are behind him. But when you strip off all the beautiful scenery and silly CGI, all the sarcastic comments and oh-so-zany antics of the crew, the story just doesn’t cut it.

I fully enjoyed every second of The Life Aquatic, but when it was over I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. Because when Anderson set out to make this film, he sadly forgot the most important aspect, the aspect that made his previous films so classic: heart. Try as I might, I just couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters. For all the jokes and the visual cartwheels, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou feels hollow.

POP RATING: 5

CRITICAL RATING: 7

B'S RATING: 6.5

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