The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Scott Hardie: “It ruled.”

It's not easy to watch this movie after Bill Murray's long history of abusive behavior has become common knowledge, since he's in nearly every scene and the movie asks us to forgive his irascible reprobate of a character. But once I set aside my feelings about Murray the actor, I really came to appreciate the charms of this film, which is one of Wes Anderson's most clever productions and one of his most narratively disciplined. By now, we are all familiar with Anderson's style, and you either love it or can't stand it; this movie's a treasure for viewers in the former camp. You could say it's the point where the filmmaker really started to become a copy of himself or to master his own style, depending on your point of view. I'm kind of surprised to see today that it was never considered for any major awards; it is so confident, bold, visually detailed, and emotionally complex that I expected it to have gotten a better reception.

− December 17, 2024 • more by Scott • log in or register to reply