The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when Wes Anderson became more interested in types than in actual characters. From his debut feature, Bottle Rocket (1996), to his current release, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Anderson has stocked his films with personas ranging from the charmingly eccentric (most notably Max Fischer, the protagonist of 1998's Rushmore) to the irritatingly quirky. It's a fine line to tread, and as both a director and a co-writer, he has shown increasing difficulty in rendering flesh-and-blood characters. In The Life Aquatic, he comes perilously close to abandoning them altogether, staging what ultimately amounts to a live-action cartoon.

Anderson certainly can't be faulted for his lack of attention to detail, but this quality, while occasionally a strength, may also be his greatest weakness. He is well-known for choosing his soundtracks, costumes, and settings before hammering out a working screenplay, and as a result his films are filled with eye candy but often lacking in emotional content. His scenes are jammed with references to films ranging from The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) to Artists and Models (1955) to Apocalypse Now (1979), but more often than not, they seem to have been included for showy purposes rather than to enhance the content of the movie at hand.

More than any of his previous films, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou may be the epitome of these bad habits. While Anderson's screenplay collaborations with Owen Wilson (who appears only as an actor here) had a deep and surprisingly affecting melancholy pulsing through their colorful facades, his teaming with Noah Baumbach in this effort results in a handful of great comic scenes but strains when it comes to the rockier terrain of human feelings.

Just as The Royal Tenenbaums was largely redeemed by Gene Hackman's performance in the titular role, Bill Murray's depiction of Steve Zissou saves what otherwise may have been a sinking ship. Anderson and Baumbach clearly had Jacques Costeau in mind when they created Zissou, an oceanographer/documentary filmmaker who has excelled professionally but shown little of the same flair in his personal life.

Still reeling from the death of his diving partner at the hands (or, more accurately, jaws) of a mysterious shark, Zissou sets out on a mission to avenge the killing. His estranged wife, Eleanor (Angelica Huston), elects to stay at home, but joining him on his journey are pregnant reporter Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett), Zissou's long-lost son Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), a handful of interns from the University of Alaska, and his trusty crew.

It's a potentially interesting scenario, but unfortunately Anderson and Baumbach seem to have been at a loss for what to do with this eclectic group once they set out to sea. As per usual, there's some nifty camerawork, but the plot feels episodic and the characters' emotional dilemmas ultimately don't amount to much. Anchored by Murray's dry humor, the cast plays off each other well, and there are some terrific sight gags and laugh-out loud moments, but most are independent of the film's plot, and as a result seem more like comic digressions.

In the end, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou unfortunately comes across as one of Max Fischer's more extravagant theatrical productions – fun to watch, but the sheer spectacle can't outweigh the deeply adolescent sensibility lurking within the storyline.