bob.gladish

Man, I'm a sucker for this kind of picture. Realism. A movie about real people, in real situations, just like you and me. No frills, no fantasy, no flash. It's not that I don't like movies with these elements in them; It's that a prefer movies without them. I like Michelle Williams without the make-up - just a waif caught in a tough situation in a generic Americana setting. It looks like a small town, but I see the credits say it's Portland Oregon.

I'm also a sucker for trains, so I loved all the train shots. Is there a symbolism to the trains? Funny how many times a forlorn train horn is heard nearby, punctuating the quiet desperation of Wendy's plight. I loved the security guy (Wally Dalton) - he shows us there's hope no matter what the situation.....there really is always someone who cares. I sure hope Wendy makes it to Alaska; she deserves to.

For those who like this one, you'll like a similar movie I viewed just a few days previous; it has a similar pace, and feel as this one, and a storyline with a little more tension: "Frozen River". Catch it if you can.

Coming exactly one year after "Lost In Translation", I now think I have a true handle on Bill Murray's screen persona. Billl definitely is a one-trick pony, and he uses it to full advantage in this one. Murray has the ability to control the whole tempo of a movie in which he is the feature performer: just like "Lost In Translation", every thing goes at a very slow, low-key, syncopated pace. Everything seems slightly dreamy-like: the lights and cultural oddities of a schizophrenic Tokyo in "Translation", the tragic events of "Aquatic". Murray goes through his paces in an almost trance-like state. And it works.

The script is excellent. Murray's Steve Zissou is a fascinating person. The movie is a great portrayal of a man whose empire is unraveling before our very eyes. We can see his career as a documentary-making oceanographer (a la Jacques Cousteau) gradually become unglued - partly because of bad judgement, partly because of bad luck, mostly because it was just his time (just like a star athlete, who inevitably loses that magic).

Once again, I really like the work of Cate Blanchett. I saw her Katherine Hepburn in "The Aviator" just before this one. Great stuff - but she's just as good here, as the very direct, no-nonsense quasi-journalist who manages to lift Zissou out of his hazy funk.

Not so great are Owen Wilson, as the maybe son, and Wilhem Dafoe, as the oddball first-mate. But what I really dislike the most about this movie is the very poor underwater scenes. They are poor animations that don't even resemble what's beneath our seas. There could have been a lot more actual underwater footage, that would have given a authenticity to the underseas. This cartoon-like approach just doesn't cut it. It's like Wes Anderson, the director, decided too many underwater scenes were too difficult to try to recreate under actual conditions so why not animate them. Increasingly, directors these days are using animation to diversify their story-telling, and often, it works. But I don't like it here.

What I most like about it is that I just know it is going to leave me with a very lasting impression, just as "Lost In Translation" has. Bill Murray's creation of a man with a hazy, existential reaction to modern life has created a mood in me I will never forget.....strangely, kind of like the kid in "Napolean Dynamite".