All aboard: What to do when a shark dines out on your mate.

Deadpan down deep
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, Jeff Goldblum

Rating: 3 stars

STEVE Zissou (Murray) is a washed-up oceanographer and documentary maker. His-hey day was in the ’80s and it looks like he’s still trapped in that decade.

His team are decked out in blue Zissou uniforms with red beanies and Steve’s company runs off an island bought by his second wife Eleanor (Huston). They’re nothing next to Steve’s archrival Alistair Hennessy (Goldblum), who has a giant budget, the latest oceanographic technology and an enormous ship.

When a jaguar shark eats Steve’s best friend, Steve vows to track down the beast and slay it – making the adventure into his next documentary. His last doco flopped and he has no funding – until he meets his son. Ned (Wilson) had an inheritance left to him by his mother and it’s just enough to get team Zissou afloat for the last time.

The crew get on the water with Jane (Blanchett), a British journalist, who’s out to write an honest piece on the Zissou crew. During the crew’s quest to find the killer shark, they’re attacked by pirates, ransack Hennessy’s ocean lab and Steve gets to know the son he’s only just met.

Life Aquatic is documentary-style, following a team of documentary makers and delivered in a deadpan comedic fashion. Each character is quirky and eccentric. Owen Wilson characteristically downplays his role as Steve’s long-lost son Ned (who Steve renames Kingsley), the co-pilot from Kentucky.

Cate Blanchett is convincing as the confident journalist with an agenda of finding a dad for her unborn baby. This is a great movie – not a riotously funny comedy, but mild and relaxed.

– LT Simone Heyer

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