Plot: What’s it about?
Quick! What do David Bowie, a three-legged dog, Jacques Cousteau and a giant Jaguar shark all have in common? Well…they’re all loosely related in Wes Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic”. I’m a big fan of Anderson’s work, dating back to “Bottle Rocket” which helped introduce the Wilson brothers (Owen and Luke) to the world. “Bottle Rocket” had a quiet pleasantness to it, and I found it enjoyable (that and Owen Wilson’s ‘Digden’ was a hilarious character. Anderson’s next work was “Rushmore”, in which we were introduced to Jason Schwartzman and a very understated performance by Bill Murray. Even the most casual viewer will certainly have heard of “The Royal Tenenbaums”, a film I think should have won (or even been nominated) for Best Picture. I must still be under the assumption that life is fair, though. A majority of the gang from Tenenbaums is back, along with a few new faces in Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum and Cate Blanchett. Before I go into the plot I do have to say that Wes Anderson’s films have helped resurrect Bill Murray’s career. Murray, a staple of late 70’s and 80’s comedies, shows that he does have real talent and was drastically denied a Best Oscar statue (Sean Penn won for “Mystic River”). Before “Rushmore”, Murray was doing films like “Larger than Life”, “The Man Who Knew Too Little” and “Wild Things”; whereas he’s now had the chance to explore some deeper roles like “Lost in Translation”. Suffice it to say, the ensemble cast is just one of the many things that I enjoyed about “The Life Aquatic”.
Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) is a Jacques Cousteau-type of documentary filmmaker. He travels the seas exploring new territory and was evidently some sort of a cult hit back in the day. “The Day” is now over and his corporate sponsorships have fallen by the wayside and to top it all off his partner, Esteban (Seymour Cassell) has just been devoured by a giant Jaguar shark. When promoting the documentary (Part I of II I might add), he realizes that it will most likely be his last voyage. Ned (Owen Wilson) is revealed to be Zissou’s son and with the help of his funds, the expedition is on again. Revenge is the driving force, but the eccentric crew is sprinkled with college interns, a pregnant reporter (Cate Blanchett), Zissou’s wife (Angelica Huston) and a man who plays David Bowie songs in Portugese (Seu Jorge). Suffice it to say this is typical for a Wes Anderson film, but not comparable by any other standards. As the voyage continues, a love triangle forms, the ship gets hijacked by terrorists and a yacht sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Will Zissou find the peace he’s looking for and kill the shark or will the crew disband and all won’t live happily ever after?
If you’re into quirky, well-written comedies then I can safely recommend “The Life Aquatic” and no doubt “Rushmore”, “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “Bottle Rocket”. I’d have to say that “The Royal Tenenbaums” is a much better of a movie in terms of how it flows, but I found myself laughing out loud several times with this one. The colorful cast is going full tilt and if that doesn’t do it for you perhaps the stop-motion sea life will? No? How about Cody, the three-legged dog that belonged to the pirates? At any rate, Wes Anderson has that special quality as a filmmaker in which I’ll see any movie he makes. On a more serious side, I like Paul Thomas Anderson (no relation) as I think he has a way to tell drama the as Wes Anderson does comedy. There are different shots, different ways to tell a story and certainly a different plot line in all of Wes Anderson’s films. He surrounds himself with creative, talented actors who seem to really enjoy their characters – making “The Life Aquatic” a lesser film than “The Royal Tenenbaums”, but just as fun to watch. Highly recommended.
Video: How does it look?
“The Life Aquatic” is shown in a beautiful 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. Anderson’s films always push the extent of the screen and nearly every inch is utilized to capacity here. I really couldn’t find anything wrong with this transfer. Colors were very strong, darks were well rendered and artifacting wasn’t an issue. The flesh tones appeared warm and natural. This seemed to give off a 3-D effect because it looked so lifelike! The movie has only a few supplements on the dual-layered disc, meaning that it has plenty of room to get the maximum bit rate. Suffice it to say that I was very impressed and this gets our highest rating.
Audio: How does it sound?
The disc comes equipped with two 5.1 soundtracks a Dolby Digital 5.1 and a DTS ES mix. I listened to the DTS mix for part of the movie and the Dolby for the other part. I’ll net it out, either one you choose will be fine. “The Life Aquatic” isn’t so much a movie for sound, but there are times when the track does shine. It was loud without being disturbingly loud and the dialogue is very clean and clear. Surrounds do make their presence known in the form of background noises, never subtracting from the action on screen. Kudos to Criterion for placing both of these soundtracks on here – both are superb.
Supplements: What are the extras?
In a weird move, Criterion has issued this in two different versions – a single disc with a commentary, featurette and a trailer and a more expansive version with another disc with many more features. We were only sent the single disc, so that’s what will be reviewed. The commentary is rather interesting with Wes Anderson and writer Noah Baumbach (who sound like they’re at a dinner party while this was being recorded) gives some insight into how the script was translated and a bit of information on some of the scenes. Evidently Anderson has wanted to do this movie for quite some time and he does provide a lot of little details that are interesting. Certainly fans will eat this track up. “Starz on the Set” is a rather straight-forward featurette that has some interviews with the cast and crew and some behind the scenes footage. Not a lot was learned here, just the standard fare. Also included is a theatrical trailer. The Two-Disc set has an additional disc and when I can get a copy, I’ll post those details here. Of interesting note, this was released by Criterion (via Disney) and it marks the 300th offering from them. If you’ve never investigated The Criterion Collection, you need to. All in all “The Life Aquatic” was rather a disappointment at the box office and hit and miss with critics, but I liked it and it’s a welcome addition to your DVD collection and especially for fans of Wes Anderson.
