Life Aquatic

Tonight was a night out on the town with Liz, Robby, Megan, Jeremy and Sara. Jeremy and Sara were only with us for our tardy meal and Jeremy only got to enjoy a beverage. Life Aquatic was a much anticipated movie for myself. I'm a big Wes Anderson fan and had been looking forward to this one for a while. Royal Tenenbaums is definately a top 10 if not top 5 sort of movie. Well, I guess I should start off by saying I heard some people liked this one and others told me it was slow, boring and not funny. Liz and I were talking about how it was just lacking some funny and this was probably because it lacked the writing skills of one Owen Wilson. Some of the stuff almost seemed contrived for an Anderson film. I know that's a bold statement and I'm not exactly sure how to back it up at the moment. However it just seems the right things to say. There were still some funny parts and definately some family inner-workings involved. I think I need to see it again. While reading How Movies Helped Save My Soul, the section about Royal Tenenbaums contained, "It's easy to compare with Charles Addams and J.D. Salinger, but the comparison is entirely appropriate; The Royal Tenenbaums is a modern American masterpiece. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I might even say that this film is the great American novel." I find it interesting that Wes Anderson seems to be always focusing on family, community and relationships. The afore-mentioned movie deals with Steve Zissou finding out he has a son and his rocky marriage; along with the relationships between different crew members. Bottle Rocket has Owen Wilson longing for a father figure in Mr. Henry along with the relationships of Anthony (Owen Wilson), Dignan (Luke Wilson) and Bob (Robert Musgrave). Then there's also Rushmore with its examples (I guess at this point I'm feeling too lazy to spell all this out for you so go watch this movie or ask somebody about it). This definately looked like a Wes Anderson film. Even from the start. I don't know if I can even put my finger on what makes it look that way. Maybe it's the way his films seem to be placed in multiple time periods. Maybe it's a european-esque sorta thing...well, not just that. It's hard to explain. It's sorta like quality - you know it when you see it. Well, to wrap this up. If you enjoy Wes Anderson I'd say go see this one. Definately not as funny as some others, but I believe it still has a message to convey about our relationships with other people, how we can carelessly hurt others and how sometimes it's the little things that mean so much - both good and bad. P.S. - ¡Hey Neville I finally saw a movie!