Reviews
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou - Brought to you by James Wormald -
I really am a true perfectionist whilst watching a film for the first time.
I usually HAVE to be alone. This isn’t because of a weird sexual obsession with all things film, (That comes in later) but I absolutely can’t stand anyone talking during the film. One of my pet peeves you might say (If you say that sort of thing). To my horrendous misfortune you might imagine then, that I was forced to squint like Mr. Youd, looking for his lenses at a porn festival. This is as the skylight in my new bedroom has yet to be fitted with a blind. However I’ll struggle on for the good of the people.
And finally on to the film, It’s a fictitious film, made in a documentary style about a group of aquatic scientists/documentary filmmakers, following their quest for (a) revenge against a jaguar shark that killed one of the crew in a previous mission, and (b) to film it.
The plot takes the necessary amount of unexpected, suspense inducing, character-building twists one comes to expect with such a simple premise. The idea of a coming of age film, where the main character is in his 50s is uncommon in the sub-genre, however not unprecedented.
Speaking plainly, it’s a nice film you can really get behind. The characters are likeable, jokes are well timed and distributed, and the pace is even and enjoyable. Even though the Zissou character is forced to deal with himself in a number of subtle ways, the film is very lenient with its messages, his ups are low and his downs are high.
All in all this combination gives a light offering with plotline, interest and humour resting neatly at the top of the bill.