THE LIFE AQUATIC (2004) - Good comedy. A lot of good laughs in this film. The direction, style, music, and characters were all wonderful. I think Bill Murray would make a great action hero. This is my type of comedy.
(http://www.umass.edu/umhome/images/upload/12919/Life.Aquadic.jpeg)
My type of comedy too! Loved the music, from the reworked songs to the computer game-like music. Especially liked the rescue on the island and well, just the various silly moments of the entire film. Very well done, with good performances all around. A friend of mine who is also a big Wes Anderson fan likes Royal Tenenbaums better, but this is my favourite personally. Very well executed style of humour.
Yea I really enjoyed it. Now I must see RUSHMORE, LOST IN TRANSLATION, and THE ROYAL TANNENBAUMS.
As I mentioned before THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO LITTLE was also a fun Bill Murray film.
Scott,
Glad you enjoyed Life Aquatic. I found it to be an absolute joy as well. Murray is fantastic and the scene with the pirates is fantastic.
If you haven't seen Rushmore or Royal Tenenbaums, do so immediatly Scott. Both are great films, and really show Murray's acting skills. If you do like those flicks, also check out Wes Anderson's directorial debut, Bottle Rocket.
I'm sorry but I was bored s**tless by "Bottle Rocket".
The others that were mentioned are good though.
Right from the beginning THE LIFE AQUATIC was funny with the show of the documentary on the big screen and his long time friend was eaten. The pirates and island rescue were also good. Everything from the sneakers to the college interns had me laughing. The film reminded me a little of early Woody Allen films without the intellectual comedy. Looking forward to the other films and I will put BOTTLE ROCKET on my list also..
Post Edited (09-28-05 12:03)
Mark Mothersburg from that band, DEVO! worked with Wes Anderson to create the "game-like" soundtrack for the movie. After leaving Devo when electronic music lost its pop novelty, Mark went on to become Hollywood's premier composer. Mark and Wes have been close friends for a while now and Mark also helped make the music for The Royal Tenenbaums as well as Rushmore. He also scored the theme to Rugrats.
I thought it was a bit of a let-down after The Royal Tenenbaums, but then almost anything would be. The more that I think about the movie after seeing it, though, the more I like it. I'll have to watch it again.
The shark/Sigur Ros scene was fantastic.
I thought it was an okay movie. It could've been better. Bill Murray was great, as usual. But there were plenty of slow moments, and way too many character development sub-plots- which I normally don't mind but they're not necessarily things I like to see in my "comedies."
The pirate takeover was absolutely hillarious, though, from start to finish.
I'd recommend seeing it once, but I wouldn't buy it or watch it again.
Wes Anderson's Humor is a rare one. Life Aquatic has just dry humor in the dialouge:
"Hi, my name's Ned"
"That's cool"
Personally Bottle Rocket is my favorite Anderson/Wilson film. The both of them are brillant writers and bottle rocket just had so many geniuely silly moments (the voluntary breakout, the bookstore robbery)
I saw it in the theater and enjoyed it. Though, I don't know whether I enjoyed it as much as Anderson's previous films.
It might help in one's enjoyment to realize this film is a take-off of Jacques Cousteau and his "Calypso."