The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: December 10, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
15
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The director of "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" scores his most funny-sad movie to date. Read full review
100
PremiereGlenn Kenny
Aquatic maintains its buoyancy throughout. Read full review
100
TimeRichard Schickel
For those of us who think this is the best comedy of 2004, the genius of the movie lies in its relocation. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
An exquisitely evocative movie that elevates rueful melancholia to a superpower. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven 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. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
Wonderfully weird and wistful adventure-comedy about a fish-out-of-water oceanographer. Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The actor's (Murray) quiet, downcast presence modulates the antic busyness that encircles him, and his performance is a triumph of comic minimalism. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Funny, bewildering, giddy spectacle. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Intermittently brilliant, intermittently hilarious -- and occasionally tedious. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter 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. Read full review
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. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence 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. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick 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. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Hovers frustratingly somewhere between charming and only mildly amusing. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
Nobody could leave The Life Aquatic without the impression of having nearly drowned in some secret and melancholy game. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Even when caught in a rut, Anderson's obsessive vision still yields many exhilarating surprises. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen 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? Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
None of it is truly inspired, but Murray's deadpan presence holds it all together. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn 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." Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
It is not as engaging as "The Royal Tenenbaums," but about on par with "Rushmore" and "Bottle Rocket." Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The damnedest film. I can't recommend it, but I would not for one second discourage you from seeing it. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMichael 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." Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyElla 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. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Noah Baumbach collaborated on the arch script, whose bittersweet weirdness leaves a residue even as the narrative disintegrates. Read full review
60
EmpireStaff (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. Read full review
50
VarietyRobert Koehler
The effect is often soporific. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe 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 TodayMike Clark
Nothing but attitude. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Overburdened with knowingly charming touches. It's waterlogged with whimsy. Read full review
50
SlateDavid Edelstein
This one is a mess--a misshapen, mawkish tragicomedy bordering on self-parody. Its ambitions deserve respect, though. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverRobert 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. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
A comedy that seems to have most everything going for it but the ability to make us laugh. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The movie still feels strangely inert; it's an adventure in which nothing ever really seems to happen. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The film's meta-fey title alone is an example of why some people adore Anderson and why he drives others absolutely crazy. Read full review
50
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Will ultimately be remembered more for the trademark Anderson look than for any of its characters or any emotional impact. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It's so cool all the life has drained away, leaving nothing behind but a faint whiff of attitude. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJack 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. Read full review
25
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
It's the strangest comic misfire yet from Wes Anderson. Read full review
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