Nobody Knows Anything

Welcome to Diane Patterson's eclectic blog about what strikes her fancy

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: the review

Posted on January 12, 2005 Written by Diane

At 20 minutes in, I leaned over to Darin and told him I was considering heading to the Barnes and Noble and I’d see him later. He told me to wait.

Wish I’d gone to the bookstore.

§

At the credits rolled:

He: So, you didn’t like it.

She: I’m trying to think of an axis on which I didn’t hate it. Well, no: hate is too strong.

He: Okay, okay, I get it. You didn’t like it.

She: You did?

He: I liked everything about it. Except for story and character, since it didn’t have those.

She: You liked the cinematography?

He: Loved it.

She: Did we just see two completely different movies?

He: I enjoyed the offbeat pace. I like the quirky setups, the weird stuff going on. You didn’t like the flat lighting and the unusual look everything had?

She: Um, no.

§

So, there you have it: proof positive I’m married to an idiot. Okay, not really. But I seriously wanted to walk out of what I felt like an overly long, self-consciously weird movie that had a grating artistic style and no fucking redeeming characteristics to make up for it. Darin, obviously, felt differently. So, you know: if you enjoy big budget Hollywood movies that appear to have been made by a bunch of college kids with their first 8mm, go for it.

Me, I’m off to the bookstore.

§

Wow. Usually I agree with Mary Ann, but this time I wish I’d gotten to see the cut of the movie she did. “This is a movie to watch a million times and never tire of.” Heh. Yup, we definitely disagree.

Filed Under: Movies

Comments

  1. katie says

    January 13, 2005 at 1:42 pm

    For what it’s worth, my husband and I agree with you, Diane. I was actually excited about seeing this and the best thing about it was being away from the kids for a few hours and eating a giant Kit Kat bar. (I didn’t have the option of the bookstore as we’d gone there before the movie.) I didn’t hate it (I kind of liked Willem Dafoe’s character and I did like the single shot going through the ship-as-set), but even the things I briefly enjoyed didn’t make up for my boredom.

    A real disappointment.

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