The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

CinemaSerf

6/10

5/25/2025

So a giant shark gobbles up his lifelong partner and Jacques Cousteau’s stunt double “Steve Zissou” (Bill Murray) promptly embarks his crew aboard his converted WWII mine hunter and sets off in search of this leviathan of the seas. Of course, “Zissou” has spent so much of his life pursuing his quest for aquatic greatness that his domestic life is a bit of a mess, and that only gets more complicate when “Ned” (Owen Wilson) shows up claiming to be his long lost son. Who knew what, when and why is quickly swept under the rubber mats as he, too, joins in the search for the menacing beast along with journalist “Jane” (Cate Blanchett) for whom they both take a bit of a shine! Meantime, “Zissou” hasn’t got too much cash, but luckily his wealthy nemesis “Hennessey” (Jeff Goldblum) has a few well stocked facilities he can pilfer from and so armed with some “borrowed” tech they set off into an un-policed zone where dangers lurk both above and below the water line. I suppose fans of Murray might get more from this, or even the dry as a bone Wilson - but for me this was all just a bit too contrived; it’s not remotely funny and if you ever saw “Le monde du silence” (1956) then you’ll have most of the basic premise laid out for you. There ought to have been some fine underwater photography but nope, not really - just a mix of dysfunctional family life and a distinct lack of aquatic life tapered to the comedic talents of a cast that offers loads of cameos but not too much else. Watchable enough, but no great shakes - sorry.