THE LIFE AQUATIC

REVIEWED BY SHANNON H.

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: nudity, language, drug content, violence

Rated:

With the exception of Finding Nemo, there haven't been any films about the ocean lately (documentaries on the Discovery Channel don't count). We do remember the late oceanographer, Jaques Cousteau, who filmed aquatic life and made it come alive for everyday people like us. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is about ocean-life, in a rather unusual way.... sort of like a "film within a film."

Oceanography documentarist Steve Zissou (Bill Murray in a wonderfully perfect role) is Italy at the premier of the first part of his sea-life documentary on the rare jaguar shark. At the end of his documentary, the shark that he discovered devoured his lifelong mentor and fellow oceanographer, Esteban. That was twelve years ago. Determined to complete part two of his documentary and enact revenge on the shark, Steve gathers his gang of everyday people who are not even trained in or know anything about sea life. During a party on his boat, he meets Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), his alleged son and an admirer of his work. Steve had an affair with a woman 30-something years ago and she recently committed suicide by overdosing on painkillers. He is willing to take in a young, 30-something guy as his sidekick on his crew. So Ned becomes one of the gang. 

There is no such thing as a typical day at work with Steve Zissou. His boat has the typical facilities such as a deck and an engine room, but it also has a spa, library, helicopter pad, the whole works. After Steve's estranged wife Eleanor (Anjelica Huston) leaves him, he gathers his crew and sets sail after the elusive jaguar shark, promising officials that he wouldn't kill it out of revenge. Steve and Co. run into all sorts of obstacles such as Filipino pirates (who kidnap one of his crew members), a faulty tracking system (Steve steals one from a rival oceanography crew), a pregnant journalist on board (Cate Blanchett) whom he and Ned fall for, and four university interns who are reluctant to stay with Steve on his mission.

The film is rated R mainly for language. There are at least 10 f-words, along with general profanities and a few uses of GD. Pirates capture Steve's boat and they exchange gunfire. Ned is seen with a wound from his head in the shootout. Steve's crew dumps a dead pirate's body off of their boat. Steve talks about each crew member getting an automatic handgun except for the unpaid university interns (they all have to "share" one). A rival of Steve Zissou, Alistair Hennessey (Jeff Goldblum), is shot in the chest. While Steve and Ned search for the jaguar shark, their helicopter conks out and it falls into the ocean. Steve survives, but Ned does not and blood is seen coming from both of his legs. There's no actual sex (only implied) but some brief nudity. We see the breasts of one of Steve's female co-workers twice (non-sexual). It's implied that Ned and Jane the pregnant journalist sleep together (both are seen taking off their shirts; we see Ned's chest and Jane's bare shoulders). Steve flirts with Jane occasionally but believes that she's gay. There are comments made about Alistair and Jane being homosexual (Jane is straight, Alistair says he's "half gay"). The men wear spandex Speedos as bathing suits, which reveal a little too much.  We see Ned walk out of bed wearing a shirt and boxer shorts.

Despite the objectionable material, I liked the film. It's one of those "artsy fartsy" flicks and the first movie I saw that was directed by Wes Anderson. The Life Aquatic is quite interesting but weighed down by the excessive profanity and other objectionable content. It does deal with issues of responsibility. Since Steve is unsure if Ned is his son or not, he still welcomes him onto his crew. Steve found out that Ned was his son in a newspaper article five years ago but never bothered to contact him because he hated fatherhood. Still, Steve treats Ned really well and takes on the responsibility of getting to know his alleged son. Steve also has a bloated ego and a mission to film the jaguar shark and kill it in revenge for it eating his best friend. This turns his wife off and she leaves him, temporarily. He finally takes time to realize that his work doesn't revolve around him but the teamwork of his crew. Throughout life we must take on responsibility for our actions whether it's parenthood, marriage, or financial problems. However, Steve willingly steals some of Alistair's stuff to keep his ship functioning and does not repent for his wrongdoings. Alistair knows his stuff is stolen but doesn't know who did it. This part, although played for laughs, is unnecessary.

My advice to fellow Christians would be to wait until this movie comes out on DVD so it will be able to be put through a filtering system, because it is really too good to pass up. Although the content may seem "fitting" for the teen-age crowd, it really is intended for those 18 and older.