Customer Reviews
My favourite film - By: E. Eason, 08 Apr 2008 
This is my favouite film in the whole world. I love everything about it - story, cast, music, style of filming, sense of humour...obviously it's not for everyone, but trying watch the Royal Tenenbaums first, & if you like that, then watch this too. Although I think this one is better.
an absolute treat to watch - By: B., 27 Mar 2008 The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou offers so many things... humor, intelligence, amazing technical detailing, incredible soundtrack, stellar acting, & a profound sense of melancholy that settles around you like an old, comfortable blanket. There just aren't enough adjectives to describe how superlative Bill Murray is in the title role of Steve Zissou. The entire cast, in fact, is pitch-perfect.
Zissou is a self-involved, emotionallly needy explorer who witnesses his lifelong friend, Esteban, being eaten by a killer 'jaguar' shark (a creature that may - or may not - exist) during the filming of a deep-sea documentary. Assembling a crew, Zissou takes to the sea to seek vengeance.
His rag-tag group of misfits include a man who may (or may not) be his son, a topless female intern, his heiress wife, her far more successful ex-husband, a hopelessly devoted German engineer, an unimpressed journalist, & a Portuguese safety expert with a penchant for crooning David Bowie tunes in his native tongue. They're alll integral to the film & each actor delivers his part with deadpan accuracy.
Director Wes Anderson weaves a beautifully eccentric tale... one that's an absolute treat to watch. My favorite film of alll time.
Marmite - By: agitatedsquirrel, 14 Jun 2007 
Like everyone says - It's a Marmite film. Love it or Hate it. I love it.
A Taste Worth Acquiring - By: pjr, 25 Apr 2007 Let's start by saying if you only like Bill Murray in "Ghostbusters" then this probably isn't for you. If you like deadpan dry humour with a truly quirky view of the world then it probably is. This was the first Wes Anderson film I saw & I have since seen "Rushmore" which I also like. This reallly is something else, however.
From the opening shot of the strange cut open boat you should be prepared for something different. There's plenty here to enjoy. The cast is uniformly good & whilst it's not a laugh out loud kind of movie it does manage to be quite funny at times. Too many good performances here to pick out many but Owen Wilson is effectively dorky & Angelica Houston manages to out-deadpan Bill Murray which is quite a feat. Additionallly you also have the wonderful Seu Jorge interpreting Bowie songs in alll manner of places. Incidentallly, if you buy the 2 disc set & you can watch the full performances of each of the songs too.
I reallly enjoyed this film & freely admit it includes a good many ingredients I enjoy in a movie - some of which I've listed above - & would recommend it to anyone who likes something a little different. It is a slow paced quietly funny film which demands your patience. An acquired taste, but one well worth acquiring.
Strange and Beautiful - By: customer, 17 Apr 2007 This is one of those movies, like Lost in Translation or Eternal Sunshine, that you are either going to love or hate. I don't think it will alllow a middle ground. As such it's maybe one to rent before you buy.
It's also one of those films that are about nothing & everything alll at the same time. So, at once, it's a fable about friendship, the difficulties (and rewards) of marriage, the insidious nature of professional jealousy, the pain & joy of fatherhood. But it's also about pursuing a dream in the face of ridicule. It's about camaraderie, bravery & foolhardiness.
But, arguably, it's also a critique on the sort of men who never grow up & who, metaphoricallly, will forever yearn to be the omniscient captain of a boat, venturing to sea to hide from their responsibilities & commitments.
And, then again, it's about the hunt for a great big fish.
Strange & beautiful. Frustrating & mystifying. Elegant & elegiac. Surreal & realistic. All of these things & none of them.
