In The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, director Wes Anderson takes his familiar stable of actors on a field trip to a fantasy aquarium, complete with stop-motion, candy-striped crabs and rainbow seahorses. And though Anderson does expand his horizons in terms of retro-special effects and a whimsical use of color, fans will otherwise find themselves in well-charted waters. As The Life Aquatic opens, Zissou (Bill Murray), a self-involved, Jacques Cousteau-like filmmaker, has just released a documentary depicting the death of his best friend Esteban, who was eaten by some sort of sea creature--possibly a jaguar shark. Zissou's troubles also include his waning popularity with the public, and a nemesis (Jeff Goldblum) who hogs up all the grant money. Hope arrives in the form of Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), an amiable Kentuckian who may be Zissou's son. Despite his lack of enthusiasm for fatherhood, Zissou welcomes Ned--and Ned in turn saves Zissou's new documentary (in which he seeks revenge on the jaguar shark) in more ways than one.

One of Wes Anderson's greatest achievements as a director to date has been launching the autumnal melancholy phase of Bill Murray's career, starting with Rushmore in 1998, and Murray delivers a similarly comedic yet low-key performance here. Unfortunately, Zissou is one of the few characters in this ensemble to achieve multi-dimensionality. Even co-star Wilson doesn't get to develop Ned much beyond Noble Southerner, and he ends up seeming more like a prop for illustrating Zissou's emotional development rather than his own man. The Life Aquatic probably won't be remembered as a great film, but it is still one that no Anderson (or Murray) fan can afford to miss.--Leah Weathersby

Internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) and his crew -- Team Zissou -- set sail on a expedition to hunt down the mysterious, elusive -- possibly nonexistent -- Jaguar Shark that killed Zissou's partner during the documentary filming of their latest adventure. They are joined on their voyage by a young airline co-pilot, who may or may not be Zissou's son (Owen Wilson), a beautiful journalist (Cate Blanchett) assigned to write a profile of Zissou, and his estranged wife and co-producer, Eleanor (Anjelica Huston). They face overwhelming complications including pirates, kidnapping, and bankruptcy. Oscar(R)-nominated writer-director (Best Original Screenplay, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, 2001) Wes Anderson has assembled an all-star cast that also includes Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, and Bud Cort in this wildly original adventure-comedy.

Owen Wilson puts in the best turn in this. There are some funny scenes, but the dry humour doesn't always work that well and while Bill Murray is always good, this isn't him at his best, which is a shame.

Worth watching.

I believe too many are quick to write off the film as bad or not as good as Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, etc. Part of the genius of this movie is Mr. Andersons contrast of childhood fantasies with adult realities. The whimsical story, ridiculous outfits, and a brief shot of, well what young boys think of serve to spark the inner "eleven and one half" year old within all of us. Yes this film is odd, and sometimes stupid but in the end i found myself moved by the sheer beauty and innocence of the film.

My favorite of Wes Anderson's movies. I'm a huge James Bond fan, which helps to understand a lot of the humor in this movie. I also love David Bowie, so the portuguese takes on many of his classics were a pleasant surprise. Funny from beginning to end, with Jeff Goldblum turning in a brilliant performance.

I liked the other Wes Anderson films that I have seen, so I bought this one. His other films are much better. We watched it, and now I'm giving my DVD of it to somebody who loves film, as a gift. I'd suggest renting it instead of buying it. It's only slightly interesting/amusing.

This movie is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Its so bad I'd rather work at home on my own nickel than watch this complete waste of film. Save your money.