Cady's Take:

Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) is an internationally famous oceanographer who plans to kill the mysterious gigantic jaguar shark that apparently ate his longtime partner and best friend Esteban during the documentary filming of their latest adventure. So, this sad, over-the-hill crusader prepares his crew for the perilous voyage of "revenge."

Before they depart on their quest the team picks up Steve's supposed biological son Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), and pressperson Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett) who is going to do an expedition-long interview with Team Zissou. Steve is having troubles with his wife, Eleanor (Anjelica Huston), the real brains behind his operation, so she decides to sit this mission out.

This movie is not easy to diagnose. The nonsense science is absurd, yet strangely satisfying. It will definitely not appeal to all audiences, even with its cleverly animated psychedelic sea creatures and kidnapping pirates.

The scenery inside the crew's ship, The Belafonte, may baffle a few viewers. The vessel is lovingly showcased as if it were a life-sized dollhouse, displaying a wonderful set with a cutaway front wall so that we are able to look into all the rooms of the boat. The layout includes a spa, kitchen, library, cutting room, lab, and an observation bubble (the idea of which came to Steve in a dream).

Life Aquatic is an offbeat, quirky, screwball comedy that I think fans of Bill Murray will treasure. Everything he stars in ends up being a superior experience. You have to admit; Murray makes the best-depressed guy ever!

I have distinct memories of being fascinated by Jacques Cousteau specials on television. "The Life Aquatic" is fascinating, but in an entirely different, non-Cousteau kind of way. Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) is an underwater explorer of sorts, and by "of sorts" I mean he does not appear to know much more about water, fish, or anything even slightly related to oceanography, than he does about anything else. His ship, The Belafonte, is equipped with a spa, and a laboratory that looks like the ones in old high school science films. His movies are declining in popularity, he's feeling washed up, and Steve vows to resurrect himself and his career by hunting down and killing the Jaguar Shark that ate his best friend and partner on their last underwater dive.

Along with an eccentric crew, Zissou sets out to find this elusive creature and along the way his wife Eleanor (Anjelica Huston) leaves him for her ex-husband, and Steve's arch enemy, he finds a man who just may be his son (played by Owen Wilson), and his ship is taken over by pirates. Yes! I said pirates. "The Life Aquatic" is peppered with animated creatures, hilarious one-liners (in response to his financial advisor's request he not kill the shark who ate his partner Bill Murray says - in his best Bill Murray way - "I will fight him but I will not kill him.") and just a little bit of love. Ok, that last part I made up. Most of these people are pretty self-centered but hey, if you put Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Cate Blanchette, Owen Wilson, and Willem Dafoe in a movie together, something funny is bound to happen.