Review: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
1/09/2005
Sometimes a movie comes along that is so unique, so chock full of great ideas and wonderful actors and spilling over with such creativity and good vibes that you wonder why it ends up being such a sad, pointless farce.
I really wanted to like this movie. I tried my hardest to appreciate it. But in the end, I wanted my two hours back plus interest for the agony.
The plot is fairly nonexistent (not that I NEED plot for a good movie), and the characters are uninteresting (as in paint drying). Wooden acting, disconnected and self-indulgent sub-plots. It's as if someone took all of the boring bits from Fellini's movies and had them re-directed by a hybrid between John Hughes and Terry Gilliam. Then someone came along and spiked all the actors' drinks with THC. It's a little bit wierd, and I like wierd, but even the surreal moments seem contrived.
Then there's the scene where the dog gets whacked in the head by a nasty Jeff Goldblum. I don't like movies that display animal cruelty in a 'humorous' way, so there's another point against it.
I can see where the creators where trying to do something different, and in a way they succeeded. Visually, it's like listening to Radiohead; always something emotional just boiling under the surface. I love the soundtrack; Mark Mothersbaugh is a GOD, but even his contribution doesn't save the wasted celluloid that is The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
I've seen wierd 'art' movies and loved them (Track 29, Delicatessen, Brazil, etc.). I've seen bad bad movies and liked them (Plan 9, Manos, anything with 'blood' in the name). I love every minute of Until The End of the World, the Director's Cut (all 4 hours). But I can safely say that I will never, ever watch this movie again.
Somehow, it's gained a 7-star rating at imdb.com. That's really odd.
posted by novachild @ Sunday, January 09, 2005,
