Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +1 Content: -3

In this dark comedy, the famous and inept oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) and his crew set out to explore the ocean. While on a diving expedition, Zissous partner is killed by a creature believed to be a rare Jaguar Shark. In an attempt at revenge, Zissou, his German first mate (Willem Dafoe) and the rest of his team set sail to find the shark. Zissou has lost his best friend and still mourns his failed marriage with Eleanor (Anjelica Huston), who is also his video producer. After his mother kills herself, airline copilot Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson) goes on a search for his father. Believing that Zissou may be his father, he joins the crew along with a pregnant journalist (Cate Blanchett). On their journey, they have an encounter with an enemy seaman (Jeff Goldblum) and pirates, who take them off course to recover stolen equipment, money and a crewman.

This is a quirky story about lost opportunities. Realizing that he is not going to live forever, Zissou wants to make up for lost time. He tries to establish a relationship with the young man who may be his son, but they face conflict as they are both attracted to the female journalist. Zissou, a very unemotional man, remains remarkably calm under unusually stressful situations a comical element more than a means to portray a virtue. He is also unethical and makes his ship stop along their journey at an ocean science station, which they ransack and burglarize. This movie is filled with bad language and profanity, some brief frontal nudity, violence and an implied sexual encounter, making it unacceptable by Previews standards.

Preview Reviewer: Alan Boyer
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures