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The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou | 2004 | R | - 6.5.7

Bill Murray stars as internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou, who during the filming of an undersea documentary watched his partner and best friend eaten by what Zissou termed a "Jaguar Shark." Vowing revenge, Zissou and his crew are searching the seas for the mysterious fish. To add to the mystery, a man (Owen Wilson) arrives identifying himself as his son; his estranged wife (Anjelica Huston) is having an affair with his competitor (Jeff Goldblum); a reporter (Cate Blanchett) is writing a piece on Team Zissou which may not end up being complimentary; and they are attacked by pirates. Also with Willem Dafoe. Directed by Wes Anderson. [1:58]

SEX/NUDITY 6 - A woman is topless exposing her bare breasts in several scenes. A man and a woman kiss, he takes off his shirt (we see his bare back and chest), and they lie back on a bed talking and kissing. An older woman introduces a younger and bare-chested man as her research assistant (there is some suggestion that they may be having a relationship). A man talks about another man making an advance toward a 15-year-old girl. A man says he is "part gay." A man wearing a T-shirt and boxer shorts walks into a woman's room. Three men sit in a hot tub together. We are told that two crabs are mating (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). Several men are shown wearing bikini swim trunks, and we see men bare-chested in several scenes. Women wear low-cut evening gowns that reveal bare shoulders, backs and cleavage. People discuss a man's inability to father children. Two men hug, two other men hug, and a man and a woman hug.

VIOLENCE/GORE 5 - Sea water churns and becomes red, a man surfaces and describes another man having been eaten by a large fish. A man is shot, and he falls back off his chair (we see him later with a bloody hole in his chest and blood on his shirt). Many men shoot at another man, dynamite explodes blowing a door off a building, and many men shoot back and forth at each other. A man shoots at several armed men who shoot back at him. One man holding a machete is shot and brings the machete down into a woman's shoulder (she screams and we see blood); we see one man lying dead with a bullet hole in his neck and blood on his face and pooled under him. A helicopter malfunctions while in flight, it plummets toward the sea, crashes, and one of the occupants is badly injured -- he falls unconscious, is carried out of the water, and we see a burial at sea later. A ship is boarded by armed pirates who hold a man at gunpoint (the man has blood on his mouth) and a man is surrounded by pirates with knives and guns; crewmembers are blindfolded and forced to their knees and the pirates threaten to shoot them. A man is hit on the head, one man is punched in the stomach (he has blood on his face), and a man is punched and thrown overboard. A man punches another man in the nose and he punches the man back. A man grabs a man around the throat, a man punches a man in the mouth (we see blood on his lip), a man slaps a man in the face, a man slaps another man in the face, a man threatens to kick a man's teeth out, and a man hits a dog with a newspaper. A submarine goes deep underwater, an enormous fish approaches it, and we see its very large mouth and teeth; it swims above the sub and snaps up a fish. Armed men search a seemingly deserted island. A man points a gun at a woman. A man is buried at sea. A man lies unconscious and another man gives him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (the man comes around). A man slips and tumbles down a flight of stairs. A man talks about searching out and killing a shark for revenge. A man is taken hostage by pirates. We see a capsized and mostly submerged ship, and men explore a submerged plane. A man talks about his mother having died from ovarian cancer. A young man has a bloody bandage on his chest. A woman tells a man that his cat died after having been bitten by a rattlesnake. We see a cemetery with many fresh graves. Dynamite is exploded in the ocean. We are told that two crabs are mating and watch as the female pulls a leg off the male. A man is shown with many leeches attached to him. A large snake slithers across a railing. A man flings a lizard off his hand. A large number of glowing sea creatures are strewn along a beach.

LANGUAGE 7 - 21 F-words, 8 sexual references, 23 scatological terms, 7 anatomical terms, 23 mild obscenities, 4 derogatory terms for homosexuals, 1 derogatory term for an English person, 10 religious profanities, 5 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - People are shown drinking alcohol, and smoking marijuana and tobacco.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Revenge, teamwork, jealousy, family, love, greed, death of a parent, death of a friend, infertility, ovarian cancer, single motherhood, abandonment, compassion, drug testing, paternity.

MESSAGE - Seeking revenge can bring on unwanted consequences.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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