I love The Royal Tenenbaums. I love The Darjeeling Limited. I love Bottle Rocket, and of course, really like Rushmore. So when I came up with the chance to complete my Wes Anderson viewing experience, and watch the movie many of my friends just LOVE, I had high expectations.
Wes Anderson is like the Coen Brothers. You come to expect something from him. When his work is not up the Wes standard, you know it, he knows it, and everyone else will probably not get the difference. Take The Ladykillers, for example. It had mixed reviews amongst critics, calling it a stepback for the Coens. But because it was so un-Coen, because it lacked so much of their vivid storytelling abilities, their naturally quirky characters you have met time and again in your life, and because Tom Hanks was trying to replicate George Clooney in O, Brother, Where Art Thou?, the movie was decently received by the audiences. To most people, this movie was just like most of the movies they are used to: decent. It had decently funny dialogue, decently crafter characters, and decent plot twists. You could see it coming, and you could see the characters as just characters. A few quirks sprinkled in to make the movie 'different', but not too much to pigeonhole it as unique. That is so not Coen.
Now, The Life Aquatic. Wes Anderson is still not a profitable filmmaker (his movies so far have made as much as they have cost). People work with him and invest in his projects because they see him as something they want to be a part of, sort of like being part of the early punk rock wave in the late 70's, or buying Monet for the sake of having a Monet to show to friends. He uses many of the same actors in his films (Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Houston, "Pagoda", Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, etc.). He loves music and knows it well enough to enhance his movies by pairing them beautifully. The agonies and tragic comedies in families are his favorite subjects to explore. Oh, and his characters all smoke, pretty much.
He has crafter a world for himself and for his fans. I am one of them. I believe he is an amazing auteur director, and he style is immediately recognizable. However, then came The Life Aquatic. This movie is stamped all over with a 'Wes' rubber stamp. So much so that you can't get to see an actual movie. It is a movie that is so caught up in being the "It" thing, that it fails to engage audiences, elicit genuine laughs, or make us care about any of the characters. Wes turns himself to 11 in this movie, and for those who have watched his work, it feels very self-contrived.
I watched the featurette that came with the dvd, "Starz on the set". In it, Wes talks about how he has thought about this film for about 8 years. Ever since Rushmore, he says, was he pitching this idea to Murray. It definitely shows. The movie looks like it went through at least 4 runs of making it quirky and odd, just for the hell of it. Meanwhile, the genuine performance by Murray, Houston, and William Dafoe, are overshadowed, because end up just not caring about it. Owen Wilson and Cate Blanchett are not at the top of their game in this movie. It might have to do with the fact that they both feel out of place, even Wilson, a Wes-veteran. Wilson is pegged into a character that is not compelling and is pretty boring to even listen to, while Blanchett is trying to push out the one-dimensional reporter she was given to play. Even the music is felt forced. What would make even the music different? Hmm...let's have David Bowie songs played in Portuguese! That makes sense.
Why do more people love this, rather than the other four, far superior Wes productions? Many of them have never even heard of the other four, except for Rushmore. I believe it is because of the same reason studio executives like to invest in their own Monet, Wes Anderson. Audiences know this movie is different, but they don't see just how unnaturally different it is. They might say they like it, and make themselves believe it, because they want to reassure everyone that they too appreciate a Monet. The other four might be less immediate in making you feel you are watching something truly special, but they should be given a chance.
I am happy to know that Wes went back to better form with Darjeeling Limited after this stepback. It is also refreshing to see that the Coen Brothers made No Country For Old Men after their own stepback. Apparently, for these three geniuses, a slump lasts only as long as they let it. After they give themselves a swift kick in the crotch, they regain their composure. But please, next time, warns us you will kick us in the crotch also.
lhp
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