At the premiere of his latest nature documentary, sea explorer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) vows to take revenge on the shark that took his best friend's life. In addition to members of his regular crew, he is joined by his back/ex-wife (Angelica Huston), a journalist (Cate Blanchett) whom he falls for, and a young man claiming to be his son (Owen Wilson), who take part in a tumultuous expedition. Written with Noah Baumbach, Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" is a formless, self-indulgent, overly artsy, and occasionally amusing film. Murray is too impassive and among the rest of a largely disappointing star cast, Huston, Michael Gambon, and Bud Court come off best. Having recently rewatched all of Anderson's film, "Life Aquatic" is, to my mind, the only project unworthy of his talents and the film that probably gives him a bad reputation with more than a small segment of moviegoers.
