Life Aquatic: Dry as a Bone

Do you like dry humor and slow moving plots? Then you will love “The Life Aquatic”. After finishing the movie, I felt like I needed a glass of water: the movie was so dry! I would compare the humor to that of “Napoleon Dynamite”; however, Napoleon’s saving grace was the quotability of the lines.

The life aquatic has a great cast: Bill Murray, Angelica Huston, Cate Blanchett, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, and many others. It follows a documentarian, Steve Zissou (Murray), on his mission to track down and kill the shark that ate his best friend. They encounter pirates, relationship issues, and attempted mutiny along the way. The story is off the wall and just quirky. There were moments that were unbelievably hillarious, but there was also a lot of scenes that were completely stagnant. Much of the movie (the relationships, conflicts, etc.) seemed completely artificial, which was probably intentional, but left any of the important plot developments with little or no weight; ergo, the viewer was not at all invested in the movie or the outcome.

I wouldn’t say that I hated the movie, but I didn’t find it very enjoyable either. I would liken this movie to a cold cup of your favorite type of coffee: you want to like it, and you feel like you should like it, but it’s cold and ultimately unsatisfying. If you liked “Rushmore”, “The Royal Tenanbaums”, or “Lost in Translation”, this is your type of movie. I would recommend renting it, trying it out, and approaching it with an open mind. However, don’t be too upset if the movie leaves you unimpressed.