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xx
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xx
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82
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42
Death Race
xx
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36
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54
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xx
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49
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34
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78
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55
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61
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65
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24
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43
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53
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53
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36
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35
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51
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47
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62
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71
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70
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93
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64
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47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
93
WALL-E
82
Dark Knight, The
79
Iron Man
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
73
Kung Fu Panda
71
Tropic Thunder
71
Horton Hears a Who!
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
64
Pineapple Express
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
62
Traitor
61
Incredible Hulk, The
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
55
House Bunny, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
53
Longshots, The
53
Rocker, The
51
Mamma Mia!
51
Step Brothers
49
Hancock
47
Swing Vote
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
43
Meet Dave
42
Death Race
36
Space Chimps
36
Fly Me to the Moon
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
35
Mirrors
34
Happening, The
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
24
Love Guru, The
xx
Goal II: Living the Dream
xx
Babylon A.D.
xx
College
xx
Disaster Movie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

85
Alexandra
39
America the Beautiful
66
American Teen
73
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
61
Baghead
55
Beautiful Losers
xx
Beer for My Horses
47
Before the Rains
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
56
Bottle Shock
75
Boy A
55
Bra Boys
61
Brick Lane
64
Brideshead Revisited
61
Bustin' Down the Door
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
xx
Cthulhu
86
Edge of Heaven, The
66
Elegy
52
Elsa & Fred
80
Encounters at the End of the World
64
Fall, The
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
83
Frozen River
68
Girl Cut in Two, A
62
Girls Rock!
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
54
Hamlet 2
25
Hell Ride
44
Henry Poole is Here
76
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72
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62
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
46
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67
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62
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63
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78
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50
Last Stop for Paul
70
Love Songs
61
Man Named Pearl, A
89
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87
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74
Mongol
xx
My Mexican Shivah
80
Order of Myths, The
66
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
72
Priceless
61
Red
71
Roman de gare
78
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51
Savage Grace
53
Sixty Six
xx
Sukiyaki Western Django
83
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56
Then She Found Me
71
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71
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80
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83
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86
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79
Visitor, The
61
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54
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66
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64
XXY
xx
Year of the Fish
xx
Young People F**king
75
Young@Heart
89
Man on Wire
87
Momma's Man
86
Up the Yangtze
86
Edge of Heaven, The
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
83
Frozen River
83
Tell No One
80
Encounters at the End of the World
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Trouble the Water
80
Order of Myths, The
79
Visitor, The
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
78
Last Mistress, The
76
I Served the King of England
75
Young@Heart
75
Boy A
74
Mongol
73
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
72
Priceless
72
I.O.U.S. A
71
To the Limit
71
Transsiberian
71
Roman de gare
70
Love Songs
68
Girl Cut in Two, A
67
Jellyfish
66
Elegy
66
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
66
American Teen
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
Brideshead Revisited
64
XXY
64
Fall, The
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
62
Kabluey
62
Girls Rock!
61
Bustin' Down the Door
61
Baghead
61
Wackness, The
61
Man Named Pearl, A
61
Red
61
Brick Lane
56
Bottle Shock
56
Then She Found Me
55
Beautiful Losers
55
Bra Boys
54
Hamlet 2
54
What We Do Is Secret
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
53
Sixty Six
52
Elsa & Fred
51
Savage Grace
50
Last Stop for Paul
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Before the Rains
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
44
Henry Poole is Here
39
America the Beautiful
25
Hell Ride
xx
Sukiyaki Western Django
xx
My Mexican Shivah
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
xx
Cthulhu
xx
Beer for My Horses
xx
Year of the Fish
xx
Young People F**king
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 161 User Votes
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