“I thought aspects of it seemed slightly fake.”

That line is spoken by reporter Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett) about a quarter of the way through indie auteur Wes Anderson’s fourth feature, and it cuts right to the heart of the film. In many ways, this film is Anderson taking the criticism that the twee and offbeat aesthetic he’s known for is forced or phony and addressing it head on. To that point, the film opens on the premiere of the new nature documentary from Bill Murray’s pseudo-Cousteau oceanographer Steve Zissou - at a European film festival one would expect to see an Anderson film premiere. In “The Life Aquatic - Part 1”, Zissou’s longtime partner Esteban (Seymour Cassel) is eaten by a mysterious creature referred to as a “jaguar shark”. When asked in a Q & A after the premiere what scientific purpose killing such a rare animal would serve, Zissou answers in typical Anderson fashion with a pause and one word, “revenge”.

Zissou is shown to be an all but intolerable human being from the beginning. He’s rude, more than a bit misogynistic, and completely self-obsessed. The death of his partner has only made those behaviors, and others, worse. Things begin to change, though, when Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson) shows up believing that Zissou is his father. Zissou is consumed with a desire to be loved and admired by all. So the fact that he may have a son, excites him as much as it terrifies him. Murray has rarely been better than he is here as he fluctuates between arrogance and vulnerability with ease and grace.

The Life Aquatic is filled with nods, both subtle and less so, to the filmmaking process in general and to Anderson’s process specifically. Mostly that comes in the form of the fact that the crew is making a film. While they are making a documentary, Zissou is constantly manipulating the footage and the events just as he tries to control the members of the crew. Ned is the audience’s way in to this quirky world and he also slowly chips away at his maybe father’s dickishness and makes way for genuine growth.