Film: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Wes Anderson has a great film in him, I'm sure. Sadly, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou isn't quite it. It's very entertaining in places with some wonderful scenes full of whimsy, the all-new all-deadpan Bill Murray is a treat, and the soundtrack - including lots of David Bowie in Portuguese sung by cast member Seu Jorge - fits like a glove. What Anderson hasn't quite pulled off is switching the tone from silly to serious, as he needs to do at various points. Still, he is a visual stylist, from the remarkable cutaway set of the ship to the Harryhausen-esque stop-motion deep-sea creatures. I wanted to love this film but ultimately I could only like it.