The films of writer/director Wes Anderson have always existed more as unique little mini-universes than mere films. The characters he creates and the environments he sets them in each call to mind a world in which life's a stage, one where every word, every gesture and every sigh exist almost for the sole purpose of telling a story and moving forward with some sort of plot. Watching a film like "The Royal Tenenbaums," you'd expect Anderson to wake up each morning stage left before the opening of curtains in front of an audience of theatergoers.
It's precisely this sort of far-reaching cinematic ambition that has made Anderson one of Hollywood's prized directorial possessions. In many ways he's like Max Fischer, the unassuming antihero of his inspired breakthrough film "Rushmore." He's confident, unrelenting, and bound by nothing, always looking five moves ahead toward the future.
Anderson seems to be almost endlessly inspired, where every time you think he's hit his creative peak he follows through with something even more lavish and over-the-top than its predecessor, allowing for his films to stand out more as events than standard studio releases.
Anderson's latest "event," the multimillion-dollar, deep-sea epic "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," is something so maddeningly inventive that you'd think it could only exist as a dream. Of course, it did at one time in the mind of Anderson.
Steve Zissou, played with the kind of understated deadpan genius that only Bill Murray could deliver, is a famed oceanographer of the Jacques Cousteau persuasion whose star is quickly fading. His films aren't selling like they used to and lately he can barely muster up enough dough to even finance his work.
On the verge of hanging up his cap — a red wool cap, which along with the accompanying full-body Speedo may be the two funniest things in the film — Zissou decides to head out on one last hurrah in search of the mysterious "jaguar shark" that killed his longtime friend. Along for the voyage are Zissou's wife (Anjelica Huston), his loyal Team Zissou staff, headed by Willem Dafoe as Zissou's right-hand man, Klaus, a pregnant journalist (Cate Blanchett) and a pilot who may or may not be Zissou's son (Owen Wilson).
What ensues is a wild goose chase of a film, complete with a sticky love triangle, a character with a strange affinity for singing David Bowie songs in Portuguese, an impromptu rendezvous with bloodthirsty pirates and unspeakable tragedy (please, save me the energy of having to explain things and just see for yourself).
Anderson has made his reputation on making films that lean heavily on irony and quirkiness, but too much of "Life Aquatic" seems forced toward being quirky for the sake of quirkiness. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of fun to be had here, like Murray's usual scene-stealing performance, the sleek soundtrack of novelty 1970s hits or just the craziness of the film in general.
But watching the film, it feels as though Anderson didn't have strong enough of a story to support much of what the film offers. Pirates and explosions are always fun, but what do they really have to do with a story centered upon a quest for a shark and the bond between an estranged father and his son.
As the laws of gravity state, what goes up must come down, and maybe it was only a matter of time before Anderson outdid himself, if only slightly. Still, a somewhat sub par Wes Anderson film is better than most others, and anyone looking for something unique and outside the box won't be disappointed here.
Grade: BC
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Jan. 20 2005.