Another ocean-faring movie with an all-star cast, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou features Bill Murray, Willem Defoe, Cate Blanchett, Michael Gambon, Angelica Houston and Owen Wilson. Directed by Wes Anderson (a man who clearly has a knack for assembling reputable actors for his films), in style, tone and subject matter it is about as far removed from a movie like The Bounty as you could possibly get. The eponymous Steve Zissou (Murray) is an oceanographer desperate to hunt down the jaguar shark which killed his partner. As idiosyncratic as any other Wes Anderson film, The Life Aquatic also covers familiar Anderson themes, with issues of rivalry, parenthood and "Team Zissou" acting as something of a surrogate family. It's certainly one of his most disjointed movies, but nevertheless retains a charm and whimsy which has become something of a trademark for Anderson. Steve Zissou's character was loosely based on real-life French oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Like his fictional counterpart, Cousteau made scores of documentaries about the ocean, not to mention the countless volumes of books. Anderson's homage to Cousteau couldn't have been signaled more appropriately than Zissou's costume design, which matches his distinguished red bobble hat and blue shirt throughout much of the film.
