In the last month of the year, The Life Aquatic seems like the odd one out in the midst of films. This is a film that will likely not impact the box office. This is because in more ways then one, this is nothing close to a mainstream film. Although The Life Aquatic did get a wide release, it features many instances that will leave mainstream audiences with no clue or no care of what is occurring.
Mainstream or not though, The Life Aquatic is not quite a good film. I could certainly dig out some of its high points, but in the end of it all, the final product as a whole is as mediocre as they come. The characters in this film are not developed to their full potential. Given, that there are so many characters, and even plenty of dialogue, Anderson can't seem to get the right character development done.
Just like Wes Anderson's other projects, Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenaunbums, this film is likely to have mixed reviews as well. While this film is somewhat similar to Anderson's other projects, it lacks the comedy and interesting characters in which he is known for. The attempted comedy in The Life Aquatic is certainly quirky, but its comedy without a response.
There are relationships in this film that seem rather rushed and some aren't believable. While witnessing The Life Aquatic, one can roll their eyes at the film, but there also some good creative cinema in here. Its more of a matter of whats on screen that makes this film have some good instances. I can come to an agreement that since Wes Anderson made Bottle Rocket, there are only a select audience that follows him.
Every director has his or her faults and when it comes to Wes, The Life Aquatic might just be his most flawed film. The film centers around trying to find a shark that killed his partner. While in a journey of that sort all the characters in the boat come along a lot of obstacles. Some of them being exciting ones and other not really fitting at all with their adventure.
The Life Aquatic takes Bill Murray who plays Steve Zissou, Owen Wilson who plays Ned Plimpton, Cate Blanchett who plays Jane Winslett-Richardson, Willem Dafoe who plays Klaus Daimler and Jeff Goldblum who plays Alistair Hennessey. This is an all-star cast in a much needed improvement script. Anderson needed to have both the screenplay and the cast, but unfortunately he only had the latter.
Bill Murray and Owen Wilson without a doubt make a good team in this film and Cate Blanchett who stars in The Aviator as well gives a good performance. None of the performances in this film scream Academy Awards, but it is one of the stronger points all throughout the film. If this film could have had more energetic comedy and some dialogue that was more intriguing than we could have had something here.
The Life Aquatic is one of those films that will awkwardly divide audiences. This is not a bad film, but more a pile of missed opportunities. In a way The Life Aquatic represents a unique way to tell a story and at times it can even intrigue a viewer, but its inconsistency is its weakest point. This film still shows that this Director is different and original, however, it also looks like his ego has grown.
