Post by Natalie on Dec 7, 2004 9:01:27 GMT -5
www.screendaily.com/story.asp?storyid=20199&r=true
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
Jean Oppenheimer in Los Angeles
06 December 2004
Dir: Wes Anderson. US. 2004. 118mins.
Bill Murray owes an enormous debt of gratitude to writer/director Wes Anderson, whose wonderfully dry, absurdist films have stretched the actor in ways the comedy star might never have attempted on his own.
Forced to venture outside his comfort zone into uncharted emotional waters, Murray has delivered one outstanding performance after another in recent years, first with his multi-faceted and achingly human portrait in Rushmore, then The Royal Tenenbaums (both directed by Anderson), followed by Sofia Coppola's Lost In Translation (which won him a BAFTA Best Actor) last year.
Now The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou is set to bring Murray another Golden Globe nomination, if not an Oscar nod, given the extraordinarily tough competition this year and the fact that the Academy traditionally overlooks comedy.
With their sophisticated, deadpan sensibilities, Anderson's films have yet to score a direct box office hit (1998's Rushmore grossed $17m domestically; 2001's The Royal Tenenbaums took $52m in the US plus $19m overseas) and it's unlikely the new film, reportedly his most expensive to date, will be more than modestly successful (although ancillary looks stronger).
Furthermore, despite its numerous charms, The Life Aquatic can't match either the cockeyed winsomeness or the perfectly balanced blend of comedy and melancholy that made Rushmore Anderson’s most satisfying work.
Written by Anderson and Baumbach (making this the first screenplay not co-authored by Owen Wilson and Anderson), The Life Aquatic concerns eccentric, once respected oceanographer Steve Zissou, whose derring-do at the bottom of the sea has served as the basis for a series of TV specials and documentary films.
Zissou's fame has ebbed away however and, despite a still healthy dose of arrogance, he is feeling uncharacteristically vulnerable at the moment, wistful and desperate to regain his past glory.
Sharing Zissou's exploits, as well as filming them, is his ragtag, multicultural crew - including his devoted but emotionally fragile German engineer Klaus (Dafoe, in a rare comedy turn) - who are known collectively as Team Zissou. In their red, knitted stretch caps and polyester, aquamarine uniforms, the seafarers look more comical than nautical, which is only fitting given that their enthusiasm far outweighs their skills.
With a nod to Herman Melville, the story concerns Steve's determination to track down the jaguar shark that devoured his best friend on an earlier expedition.
A second, ultimately more important plot line, concerns courteous, soft-spoken young airline pilot Ned (Wilson) who may or may not be Steve's illegitimate son. Given the plausibility of the assertion, Steve welcomes Ned with, what for him, at least, qualifies as open arms, inviting him to join his crew. Steve's estranged wife Eleanor (Huston), his primary professional rival Hennessey (Goldblum), a pregnant British journalist named Jane (Blanchett), and a gang of bloodthirsty pirates add additional complications to his life.
As with Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic deals with a deeply flawed, middle-aged man, whose arrogance and certitude have recently fallen victim to an overwhelming sense of fallibility and even failure. He sees his search for the jaguar shark and, even more importantly, his relationship with a young man who might be his son as a way to reclaim - possibly even to redeem - himself.
Anderson has a knack for melding uproarious deadpan comedy with an unexpected sense of pathos and melancholia. His last three films - especially as personified by Murray's characters - are the equivalent of the Siamese twin theatrical masks which juxtapose a smiling face with a tearful one. The humour, which is both visual and verbal, proves thin at times but overall it hits its mark - and always in admirably understated fashion.
The Life Aquatic is a bit more chaotic than Anderson's other films, with the environment seemingly less controlled and the storyline less contained. The comedy also seems broader, even haphazard, with Team Zissou racing around in energetic but intentionally inept fashion. The actors acquit themselves well enough, although Murray doesn't reach the heights of either Rushmore or Lost In Translation. He and Wilson have a nice rapport, as do Murray and Huston.
Anderson's visual style has remained unusually consistent over the years. Working for the fourth time with talented cinematographer Yeoman - and in anamorphic for the third time - he favours wide lenses and deep focus. It's a distinctive perspective and one that works especially well with Anderson's ensemble casts since it gets so many characters into a single frame. While The Life Aquatic doesn't take Anderson - or Murray - in a terribly new or challenging direction emotionally, it is an enjoyable adventure nonetheless.
Pro co: American Empirical Pictures, Touchstone Pictures
US dist: Buena Vista
Intl dist: BVI
Exec prods: Rudd Simmons
Prods: Wes Anderson, Barry Mendel, Scott Rudin
Scr: Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach
Cine: Robert D. Yeoman
Pro des: Mark Friedberg
Ed: David Moritz
Music: Mark Mothersbaugh
Main cast: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Jeff Goldblum
Jean Oppenheimer in Los Angeles
06 December 2004
Dir: Wes Anderson. US. 2004. 118mins.
Bill Murray owes an enormous debt of gratitude to writer/director Wes Anderson, whose wonderfully dry, absurdist films have stretched the actor in ways the comedy star might never have attempted on his own.
Forced to venture outside his comfort zone into uncharted emotional waters, Murray has delivered one outstanding performance after another in recent years, first with his multi-faceted and achingly human portrait in Rushmore, then The Royal Tenenbaums (both directed by Anderson), followed by Sofia Coppola's Lost In Translation (which won him a BAFTA Best Actor) last year.
Now The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou is set to bring Murray another Golden Globe nomination, if not an Oscar nod, given the extraordinarily tough competition this year and the fact that the Academy traditionally overlooks comedy.
With their sophisticated, deadpan sensibilities, Anderson's films have yet to score a direct box office hit (1998's Rushmore grossed $17m domestically; 2001's The Royal Tenenbaums took $52m in the US plus $19m overseas) and it's unlikely the new film, reportedly his most expensive to date, will be more than modestly successful (although ancillary looks stronger).
Furthermore, despite its numerous charms, The Life Aquatic can't match either the cockeyed winsomeness or the perfectly balanced blend of comedy and melancholy that made Rushmore Anderson’s most satisfying work.
Written by Anderson and Baumbach (making this the first screenplay not co-authored by Owen Wilson and Anderson), The Life Aquatic concerns eccentric, once respected oceanographer Steve Zissou, whose derring-do at the bottom of the sea has served as the basis for a series of TV specials and documentary films.
Zissou's fame has ebbed away however and, despite a still healthy dose of arrogance, he is feeling uncharacteristically vulnerable at the moment, wistful and desperate to regain his past glory.
Sharing Zissou's exploits, as well as filming them, is his ragtag, multicultural crew - including his devoted but emotionally fragile German engineer Klaus (Dafoe, in a rare comedy turn) - who are known collectively as Team Zissou. In their red, knitted stretch caps and polyester, aquamarine uniforms, the seafarers look more comical than nautical, which is only fitting given that their enthusiasm far outweighs their skills.
With a nod to Herman Melville, the story concerns Steve's determination to track down the jaguar shark that devoured his best friend on an earlier expedition.
A second, ultimately more important plot line, concerns courteous, soft-spoken young airline pilot Ned (Wilson) who may or may not be Steve's illegitimate son. Given the plausibility of the assertion, Steve welcomes Ned with, what for him, at least, qualifies as open arms, inviting him to join his crew. Steve's estranged wife Eleanor (Huston), his primary professional rival Hennessey (Goldblum), a pregnant British journalist named Jane (Blanchett), and a gang of bloodthirsty pirates add additional complications to his life.
As with Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic deals with a deeply flawed, middle-aged man, whose arrogance and certitude have recently fallen victim to an overwhelming sense of fallibility and even failure. He sees his search for the jaguar shark and, even more importantly, his relationship with a young man who might be his son as a way to reclaim - possibly even to redeem - himself.
Anderson has a knack for melding uproarious deadpan comedy with an unexpected sense of pathos and melancholia. His last three films - especially as personified by Murray's characters - are the equivalent of the Siamese twin theatrical masks which juxtapose a smiling face with a tearful one. The humour, which is both visual and verbal, proves thin at times but overall it hits its mark - and always in admirably understated fashion.
The Life Aquatic is a bit more chaotic than Anderson's other films, with the environment seemingly less controlled and the storyline less contained. The comedy also seems broader, even haphazard, with Team Zissou racing around in energetic but intentionally inept fashion. The actors acquit themselves well enough, although Murray doesn't reach the heights of either Rushmore or Lost In Translation. He and Wilson have a nice rapport, as do Murray and Huston.
Anderson's visual style has remained unusually consistent over the years. Working for the fourth time with talented cinematographer Yeoman - and in anamorphic for the third time - he favours wide lenses and deep focus. It's a distinctive perspective and one that works especially well with Anderson's ensemble casts since it gets so many characters into a single frame. While The Life Aquatic doesn't take Anderson - or Murray - in a terribly new or challenging direction emotionally, it is an enjoyable adventure nonetheless.
Pro co: American Empirical Pictures, Touchstone Pictures
US dist: Buena Vista
Intl dist: BVI
Exec prods: Rudd Simmons
Prods: Wes Anderson, Barry Mendel, Scott Rudin
Scr: Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach
Cine: Robert D. Yeoman
Pro des: Mark Friedberg
Ed: David Moritz
Music: Mark Mothersbaugh
Main cast: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Jeff Goldblum