Wes Anderson has released many great movies, but Life Aquatic is his most underrated. Here's a "deep dive" into why.
Wes Anderson has already released ten movies. Each with its own idiosyncrasies and story, but always with his unmistakable style: incredible art direction and set designs, symmetrical shots, unique tone and humor, and an ensemble cast that any other director would be jealous of.
As he’s been doing films for almost thirty years, not all of his movies are viewed the same. Some have been recognized as great; titles like The Moonrise Kingdom (in two weeks it will be ten years since its release) or The Royal Tenenbaums. Others are great visual films that didn’t connect with audiences (Isle of Dogs or The Darjeeling Limited), and some have been mostly forgotten, like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. We believe this movie starring Bill Murray, as an undisguised homage to Jacques Cousteau, is his most underrated. So let’s listen to some of Seu Jorge’s versions of David Bowie songs, put on a red cap, and find out why.
Bill Murray is Anderson’s muse, and has appeared in all his movies except Bottle Rocket. They just get one another. Although, as Anderson admits in the Independent, he was terrified of him before they met. But, through the years, they’ve created a great partnership; one that allows Murray to test his boundaries as an actor.
In Life Aquatic, Murray plays the protagonist, Steve Zissou, an older man full of regrets, melancholy, and bitterness that still wants to be relevant. He starts the movie as someone hellbent on getting revenge on the animal who killed his best friend, and, in the end, he cries when he finally sees the shark. That scene still gives us chills. Murray nails all the emotions while showing Zissou's hopefulness as the movie advances. With that kind of character, it would be very easy to lose the audience, but Murray makes us feel empathy for Zissou as he keeps evolving, thanks to everything that happens during the movie, and ends up as a better person than when it began.
Related: These are the Best Bill Murray Movies
Oceanographer Steve Zissou is at the end of his career, facing the horrible fact that his best years are already behind him. He’s bitter, divorced, and has a middle-age crisis as big as his boat. But, he has one last mission: avenge his best friend, and go on a hunt for the “Jaguar Shark”. As always, the journey is more important than the destination, and this journey has friendship, pirates, stolen coffee machines, red caps, and a beautiful homemade flag.
The movie, written by Anderson and Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha and Kicking and Screaming) is pure melancholy. It also shows the difficult relationships between fathers and sons, and how to let go. Life Aquatic starts with revenge and ends with whimsical hope. Bill Murray's character has lost his best friend, but he still has the rest of his family: the crew of the Belafonte.
As always, Anderson uses his unique style to make every one of his movies special. Life Aquatic happens at sea, so Anderson had the best excuse ever to invent all kinds of whimsical and cute marine species. Starting with the “big bad” of the movie: the stop-motion Jaguar Shark. It was the first time he dipped his toes in the stop-motion world, and he liked it so much, that he did two movies using those techniques: Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs.
The sea creatures are not the only place where Anderson uses his mastery of art direction. From the crew uniforms to the island where they live, everything has been well-thought-out and lived in, and it’s beautiful. Especially the Belafonte, the boat where much of the movie happens, is all creativity and fun. It has a sauna, a cutting room for editing, an observation deck, and dolphins who, in theory, are smart (although Zissou doesn’t think so).
Surprisingly, this is also a hang-out movie. As such, you always have to feel like part of the crew (pun intended), and want to spend time with the characters. What better crew than Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, and Jeff Goldblum? This is not only a list of Academy Award-nominated actors (and some winners); it’s also the principal cast of the movie. With them is the musician Seu Jorge, who soundtracks the film with incredible acoustic versions of David Bowie songs.
Many of the actors had already worked with Anderson (Murray, Wilson, Huston) before. It shows, as they feel part of the universe from the start without any effort. The new additions included Cate Blanchett in a role that could be thankless, but ends up being part of the spine of the movie. Willem Defoe gave one of his most goofy and innocent interpretations. If someone was born to be in a Wes Anderson movie, it would be Jeff Goldblum. It’s no surprise that Goldblum has appeared in most of Anderson's movies since then, as it is a match made in film heaven.
Anderson is known to operate differently than every other director in the industry, including in how he treats his cast. He likes to cultivate a college or camp feeling, to the point that they take up a local hotel and live all together. Maybe that’s one of the reasons his movies keep having these incredible casts; they’re also friends. What better excuse than to spend a few weeks with one another than making a film together? The formula works, especially if they do films as unique and beautiful as Life Aquatic.