PhilPaine.com

This is anoth­er pecu­liar film star­ring Bill Mur­ray. He plays Steve Zis­sou, a famous under­wa­ter per­son­al­i­ty of the Jacques Cousteau type. His mud­dled rela­tion­ships with a wife, crew, busi­ness asso­ciates, for­mer lovers and a pos­si­ble son is explored against the back­drop of improb­a­ble adven­tures. Every­thing is made to look unre­al, as if a Hergé com­ic book had been brought to life. The pac­ing of Wes Ander­son­’s film is strange, with sud­den bursts of activ­i­ty start­ing and stop­ping unex­pect­ed­ly. I liked the film, most­ly because it does­n’t much resem­ble any­thing else, and it seems to be sin­cere. There are some gen­uine moments of feel­ing, and some effec­tive satire. But it came and went in the the­atres, bare­ly noticed. I was pleased to see a grown-up Bud Cort (Brew­ster McCloud; Harold and Maude) in a minor role.