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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
67
$9.99
75
24 City
66
Adoration
74
Afghan Star
48
Alien Trespass
56
American Violet
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57
Away We Go
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
62
Big Man Japan
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55
Brothers Bloom, The
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx
Call of the Wild
63
Cheri
62
Cherry Blossoms
63
Dead Snow
65
Departures
18
Downloading Nancy
58
Easy Virtue
70
End of the Line, The
77
Every Little Step
64
Examined Life
80
Food, Inc.
38
Gigantic
56
Girl from Monaco, The
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
87
Gomorrah
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Great Buck Howard, The
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx
Home
82
Hunger
91
Hurt Locker, The
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
81
Il Divo
54
Is Anybody There?
71
Jerichow
58
Julia
74
Lemon Tree
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
40
Limits of Control, The
42
Little Ashes
64
Lymelife
50
Management
57
Merry Gentleman, The
66
Moon
35
New York
62
Not Forgotten
xx
Offshore
78
O'Horten
64
Outrage
40
Paris 36
54
Pontypool
71
Pressure Cooker
52
Quiet Chaos
83
Revanche
67
Rudo y Cursi
86
Seraphine
65
Sex Positive
70
Shall We Kiss?
77
Sin Nombre
59
Sleep Dealer
74
Song of Sparrows, The
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
82
Sugar
84
Summer Hours
61
Sunshine Cleaning
28
Surveillance
42
Tennessee
63
Tetro
64
Throw Down Your Heart
80
Tokyo Sonata
63
Tokyo!
70
Tony Manero
74
Treeless Mountain
88
Tulpan
74
Two Lovers
83
Tyson
83
U2 3D
60
Under Our Skin
69
Unmistaken Child
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
22
What Goes Up
45
Whatever Works
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The
Buena Vista Pictures
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for language, some drug use, violence and partial nudity
Starring
Bill Murray,
Owen Wilson,
Cate Blanchett,
Anjelica Huston,
Willem Dafoe,
Jeff Goldblum,
Michael Gambon,
and
Bud Cort
Internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou (Murray) and his crew set sail on an expedition to hunt down the mysterious, elusive, possibly non-existent Jaguar Shark that killed Zissou's partner during the documentary filming of their latest adventure. (Touchstone Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Adventure
|
Comedy
|
Fantasy
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Wes Anderson
Noah Baumbach
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Wes Anderson
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: May 10, 2005
Video: May 10, 2005
Theatrical: December 10, 2004
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
119 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Premiere
Glenn Kenny
Aquatic maintains its buoyancy throughout.
100
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
The director of "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" scores his most funny-sad movie to date.
100
Time
Richard Schickel
For those of us who think this is the best comedy of 2004, the genius of the movie lies in its relocation.
90
Los Angeles Times
Carina Chocano
An exquisitely evocative movie that elevates rueful melancholia to a superpower.
88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
Like the old and creaky Belafonte, the film itself seems forever on the brink of drifting away. But it's the kind of drifting that's nothing but enjoyable. In fact, it's beyond enjoyable - heading into waters full of whimsy, mystery and odd, psychedelic fish.
80
The Hollywood Reporter
Sheri Linden
Wonderfully weird and wistful adventure-comedy about a fish-out-of-water oceanographer.
80
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
The actor's (Murray) quiet, downcast presence modulates the antic busyness that encircles him, and his performance is a triumph of comic minimalism.
78
Austin Chronicle
Kimberley Jones
Funny, bewildering, giddy spectacle.
75
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
Wes Anderson's movies taste that way to me. They're dryly funny, well-acted, never less than quirkily entertaining. But they're never more, either.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
A movie deeply immersed in movie lore, and the more seasoned the swimmer the richer the experience.
75
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Wilson drops the ironic smirk to give a sincerely affecting performance. His scenes with Murray provide the ballast when the script veers off into unconvincing pirate attacks and animated sea creatures.
75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Intermittently brilliant, intermittently hilarious -- and occasionally tedious.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
It's almost a great movie. For half of its running time, Anderson maintains a distinct and arresting tone of vague absurdity, and then he loses control and the film begins to dip into silliness. Individual scenes become labored. Yet even at its worst, The Life Aquatic is always interesting -- there's really nothing else like it.
70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
Even when caught in a rut, Anderson's obsessive vision still yields many exhilarating surprises.
70
The New Yorker
Anthony Lane
Nobody could leave The Life Aquatic without the impression of having nearly drowned in some secret and melancholy game.
70
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Hovers frustratingly somewhere between charming and only mildly amusing.
67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
None of it is truly inspired, but Murray's deadpan presence holds it all together.
67
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
A fascinating, masterly, frustrating film, it only passingly touches on the heart and sharpness of Anderson's previous work and rather brings to mind the famous complaint of the emperor in "Amadeus": "too many notes."
67
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
As someone who has warmed up to Anderson's work only gradually, I'd call this a step back for him, but I also can't help but wonder: Will he ever take that crucial step forward and stop saying, Isn't it ironic?
63
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
It is not as engaging as "The Royal Tenenbaums," but about on par with "Rushmore" and "Bottle Rocket."
63
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
The damnedest film. I can't recommend it, but I would not for one second discourage you from seeing it.
60
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Noah Baumbach collaborated on the arch script, whose bittersweet weirdness leaves a residue even as the narrative disintegrates.
60
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson
Murray is always pleasurable company, and his barely suppressed soulfulness might've supported this dawdling big-fish story if its insistent larkiness had abated and let a little reality in, as had "Rushmore."
60
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
Somewhere buried beneath all this ballast something is being said, again, about flawed middle-aged men falling from grace and redeeming themselves. This time I'm damned if I know what that something is.
60
Empire
Staff (Not credited)
The garish, exotic, retro styling is Anderson at his visual best. In terms of character and sensibility, though, this is sadly Anderson at his worst.
50
Variety
Robert Koehler
The effect is often soporific.
50
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
There's a lot to appreciate here, especially Mr. Murray's variations on the sad but hopeful soul he played in "Rushmore" (and in "Lost In Translation"). Yet meanings get lost in a clutter of cleverness.
50
USA Today
Mike Clark
Nothing but attitude.
50
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
Overburdened with knowingly charming touches. It's waterlogged with whimsy.
50
Slate
David Edelstein
This one is a mess--a misshapen, mawkish tragicomedy bordering on self-parody. Its ambitions deserve respect, though.
50
Dallas Observer
Robert Wilonsky
The more technically proficient Anderson gets as a filmmaker, the more emotionally barren his movies become, till at last The Life Aquatic drowns in a sea of self-indulgent touches that delight the filmmaker but distance the filmgoer who wants to love the director and his characters but just can't, not anymore.
50
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
A comedy that seems to have most everything going for it but the ability to make us laugh.
50
Film Threat
Pete Vonder Haar
Will ultimately be remembered more for the trademark Anderson look than for any of its characters or any emotional impact.
50
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
The movie still feels strangely inert; it's an adventure in which nothing ever really seems to happen.
50
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
The film's meta-fey title alone is an example of why some people adore Anderson and why he drives others absolutely crazy.
40
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
It's so cool all the life has drained away, leaving nothing behind but a faint whiff of attitude.
38
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
If there's anything more tiresome in film today than hip irony, it is forced irony, and here comes a boatload with Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.
25
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
It's the strangest comic misfire yet from Wes Anderson.
 The average user rating for this movie is 6.8 (out of 10) based on 164 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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