Redemption

So I finally saw The Life Aquatic: with Steve Zissou. It was awesome. Hilarious. I highly recommend it.

I will tell you though, that I didn't like it at first, unlike some of the other Wes Anderson movies (bottle rocket, rushmore, royal tenembaums). The other three films started slowly, and were just quirky enough to be amusing. This one? much darker.

The center of the film is Steve Zissou played by Bill Murray. The character is arrogant, conceited, self-centered, selfish. It seems now that this is the same sort of character that Gene Hackman played in Royal Tenembaums. But in Tenembaums it was always sort of aparent that Hackman really enjoyed the role, he played it tongue-in-cheek and did it with style and humor. Bill Murray doesn't. He plays Zissou to the edge, and it turned me off the movie from the begining. Aquatic is much darker than the other films (in turn about petty crime, love/high school, and child geniuses) this movie seems to be about a life shot to pieces, a man with nothing left to live for. And that's when it gets good. All of a sudden it starts getting funny, and funnier, and even funnier. Laughing out loud at the insanity of the expedition (like david bowie in portugese) the tour of the ship is a highlight. I loved the sets and the wardrobe. And you laugh until the end. You forget about whether or not you liked the opening, you don't pay attention to the theme. It's "what's steve gonna do next?" that keeps you going. Until the end. And then you realize. This movie is about redemption. Forgiveness, closure, and redemption. All of the Wes Anderson films are, but none more than this. Steve Zissou and his journey to redemption.

along the way there are hijackers, engine fires, burglary, interns, reporters, illegitimate children, fortunes lost, and lots of really...interesting...fish.

five stars. out of five and a half.

wes anderson, well done.

-Tom