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Movies / On DVD / The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

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The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004)

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Reviews Counted:170

Fresh:89

Rotten:81

Average Rating:6/10

Consensus: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is getting soaked by many critics, who call it smug, ironic and artificial. Still, others have praised the movie’s sheer uniqueness, eccentricity and whimsy.

Rated: 15

Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:18-02-2005

Synopsis: In Wes Anderson's THE LIFE AQUATIC, a group of oceanic explorers who call themselves Team Zissou embark on a journey to hunt down the "jaguar shark" that ate one of their crew members (Seymour... In Wes Anderson's THE LIFE AQUATIC, a group of oceanic explorers who call themselves Team Zissou embark on a journey to hunt down the "jaguar shark" that ate one of their crew members (Seymour Cassel). Determined to avenge the death of his dear friend, team leader Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) is melancholic about the journey he's about to make. Meanwhile, financial troubles and nostalgia for his past make Zissou behave like a reckless playboy, an aging softie, and a past-his-prime tyrant. Surrounding Zissou are a hodgepodge of eccentrics--a pregnant journalist doing a magazine feature (Cate Blanchett), an airline pilot from Kentucky who claims he is Zissou's son (Owen Wilson), an emotionally needy European (Willem Dafoe), an acoustic guitarist who sings David Bowie songs in Portuguese (Seu Jorge), Zissou's brilliant wife (Anjelica Houston), and her ex-husband who is Zissou's seafaring nemesis (Jeff Goldblum). Clad in baby-blue polyester uniforms, Addidas sneakers, and red stocking caps, Team Zissou is a sight to see. And as their deep-sea adventure takes them into dangerous waters where they are attacked by pirates and dazzled by CGI fish, the group finds magic both in their bonds to each other and in the colorful world around them. In keeping with Anderson's unique brand of escapist humor, these caricatured characters are nothing short of fascinating. While their lives are extraordinary, they act bored, dwelling on banalities like hurt feelings, jealousy, and loneliness. The more absurd their stories are, the more believable their quirky personalities become. With plenty of hilarious moments offsetting the film's tongue-in-cheek sentimentalism, THE LIFE AQUATIC is sure to please seasoned Anderson fans and make new ones of the uninitiated. [More]

Starring: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston

Starring: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Bud Cort, Seymour Cassel

Director: Wes Anderson

Director: Wes Anderson
Screenwriter: Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach
Producer: Barry Mendel, Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin
Composer: Mark Mothersbaugh
Studio: Buena Vista Pictures

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

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141 - 160 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Overall, un-evenly entertaining. Rich quality moments somewhat make up for substantial downtime. Undoubtedly, this will prove a risky film.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
12/13/04
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

A lovable masterpiece replete with oddity and imagination.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
12/12/04
Joshua Tyler
Joshua Tyler
CinemaBlend.com

All of director Wes Anderson's movies have an idiosyncratic charm, but quirkiness alone isn't necessarily a virtue.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
12/11/04
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
eFilmCritic.com

This laughless and smileless dud ... is as dead as a doornail.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
12/11/04
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

has its small pleasures, but mostly it just flaps around like a dying fish

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
12/11/04
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

The pirate attack is so outright unreal, it may be as real as anything else in either the documentary or the fiction.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
12/10/04
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

Why is it that so many people think this filmmaker is the voice of their generation? Is their generation that vacuous?

Full Review Source: Slate | comment Comment
12/10/04
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
Slate

One of the year's most ambitious and richly entertaining pictures.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
12/10/04
Todd Gilchrist
Todd Gilchrist
IGN Movies

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is Anderson's best film to date.

Full Review Source: UGO | comment Comment
12/10/04
Bryan Enk
Bryan Enk
UGO

Admirably scruffy in its droll comic pursuits, but has all the storytelling aplomb of a Sunday-funnies section.

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
12/10/04
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

It's part of that American eccentricity to obsess over growing up. Anderson's obsession has genuine, daffy substance.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment Comment
12/10/04
Armond White
Armond White
New York Press

Murray's dry humor goes a long way toward making an essentially reprehensible character into a slyly entertaining portrait of middle-aged angst, egoism and neediness.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
12/10/04
Kevin Lally
Kevin Lally
Film Journal International

I savored every frame and gorged on every sound (being a fan of '70s Bowie helps).

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
12/10/04
Glenn Kenny
Glenn Kenny
Premiere Magazine

It's a collage of half-measures.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
12/10/04
Michael Atkinson
Michael Atkinson
Village Voice

It's so cool all the life has drained away, leaving nothing behind but a faint whiff of attitude.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
12/10/04
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Anderson holds steady to the delicate emotions that run beneath this stormy comedy of betrayal, death and forgiveness.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
12/10/04
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone

A pearl of a movie -- maybe it's a little precious, but it's also luminous.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
12/10/04
Pam Grady
Pam Grady
Reel.com

Anderson may be incapable of making a dull film -- he's certainly incapable of making a dull-looking film -- and from its fake-docu introduction to its full-circle conclusion, his movie looks interesting and unique.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
12/10/04
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

Intermittently brilliant, intermittently hilarious -- and occasionally tedious.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
12/10/04
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post

This is a leaky vessel sailing in circles, not the wonderful Life we were expecting.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
12/10/04
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News
 
 
141 - 160 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

September 12, 2007: Total Recall: Across the Universe And The Beatles On Film
This week, Across the Universe hits theaters. Julie Taymor's film, starring Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess as a young couple in the midst of the heady, chaotic 1960s,... More...

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This week at RTIndie, we check out the early buzz from Telluride and Venice, where some of the fall's most anticipated indies have premiered. And our DVD Pick of the Week is a... More...

July 24, 2007: Trailer Bulletin: Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited
Anyone who's a fan of Wes Anderson's perfectly quirky films (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic) should rejoice at the news that the trailer for his... More...

July 18, 2007: Ron Howard Signs On to Direct The Emperor's Children
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