- When Wes Anderson filmed The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou back in 2004, he was approximately the same age that I am now. Nonetheless, I have difficulty picturing him at any age other than that of his character Max Fischer, the prep-school wunderkind from Rushmore. All of Anderson's films overflow with the naive enthusiasm and whimsy of a high schooler's first film project, even if his directorial talents greatly exceed those of the average sophomore movie nerd. Unfortunately, I find that Anderson's work, populated largely with cartoonish quirkiness archetypes rather than fully fleshed-out characters, also tends to reflect the emotional maturity of a high schooler. So too with this film.
- Leading this particular cast of wacky characters is the eponymous Zissou himself, played perfectly by a world-weary Bill Murray. As a red-capped undersea explorer and documentary film star, Zissou is obviously patterned lovingly on the late Jacques Cousteau. Unlike Cousteau, however, Zissou's once-stunning popularity has waned considerably over the years. Although most members of his crew (unpaid interns aside) remain loyal to the adventurer, his wife Eleanor (Anjelica Huston), the alleged brains behind the operation, is slowly falling out of love with him. Simultaneously, his producer (Michael Gambon) is having trouble raising funds for their next picture, which Zissou has declared will be a vengeance-driven hunt to kill the elusive "Jaguar Shark" that ate his partner Esteban (Seymour Cassel). Given Zissou's track record of late, not everyone is convinced that the Jaguar Shark is real. Even Zissou sometimes has his doubts.
- The only people who have never been more confident in Zissou's abilities are Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson) and Klaus Daimler (Willem Dafoe). Ned, a no-nonsense pilot for Air Kentucky, has been a stalwart Junior Member of "Team Zissou" for his entire life and wears the toy ring to prove it. He also may or may not be Zissou's son, depending on whose paternity stories you believe. This last detail is particularly troubling for the humorously redoubtable Klaus, Zissou's second-in-command, who sees himself as the explorer's de facto progeny. While Ned and Klaus don't agree on much else, they clearly both worship Zissou, envisioning him as the strong and noble explorer they grew up with rather than the sour, doughy misanthrope he's become. One imagines that both men will be disappointed if newly-arrived reporter Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett) goes ahead with her story on Zissou as an antiquated has-been failure.
- There are myriad other plot details having to do with Zissou's refined rival Hennessey (Jeff Goldblum), a surprisingly resilient accountant (Bud Cort), and some pirate attacks, but you wouldn't watch a film like this for the plot. Instead, you might marvel at Anderson's amusingly unorthodox choice to render the film's sea creatures with stop-motion animation rather than CGI. Likewise, you might sit and wonder at the film's odd soundtrack that features a mix of documentary-style retro synthesizer tracks and, get ready for this, Portuguese folk covers of David Bowie standards. You could, and should, also be impressed at Murray, Blanchett, and Dafoe, the last of whom makes a completely unexpected and amazing excursion into a comedic role, complete with shortpants. Lastly, you may very well admire the details of Zissou's towering (and sometimes teetering) research vessel, the Belafonte, that, as a tracking shot reveals, was constructed as a single gigantic setpiece. Incidentally, filming the set in this way gives the impression of the characters as dolls in a dollhouse, to be played with and, in some cases, knocked over, at a child's whim. Such proceedings can be fun for a while, but also remind us that there are more sophisticated games out there for adults.
- Only Bill Murray could say: "Son of a bitch, I'm sick of these dolphins."
