Tuesday, December 28
Revenge.
Christmas night my family went out and saw The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I am a big fan Wes Anderson's other movies (Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums - and IMBD tells me there's another one I haven't seen; Bottle Rocket has been added to my netflix list.) Both of those movies had a lot of whimsy, but in his review Roger Ebert said this one has terminal whimsy, which I think is a great description.
I share Eberts confliction about this movie. I had a lot of fun, but I think that had a lot to do with the mood I was in. It was the end of the holiday and I didn't really want to think much, or deal with a real plot, or any of those other traditional things movies do. I just wanted to go on a fun ride.
The Life Aquatic doesn't really trouble itself with being a movie. If you're the kind of person that enjoys structure, or meaning, or even reason this one probably isn't for you. Me, I enjoy all those things - but if I set my expectation right I can let them go.
I will admit the movie dragged a bit. It's hard to keep people entertained on randomness and whimsy alone, but they make a pretty good go of it here. Plus the cast is fantastic; they're enough to carry most of the movie all by themselves.
The set design and general look of this move is fantastic. Along with all the fake animals it just adds to the whimsy. Where else can you see trained dolphins swimming with cameras on their backs, ridiculous fight scenes, deadpan and melancholy humor - all to a sound track of David Bowie in Portuguese (I'm not kidding...) It's just that kind of a movie.
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