Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
62
(38 sources)
62
(38 sources)
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100
-
100
Christian Science Monitor
The director of "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" scores his most funny-sad movie to date. Read Full Review » -
100
Time
For those of us who think this is the best comedy of 2004, the genius of the movie lies in its relocation. Read Full Review » -
90
Los Angeles Times
An exquisitely evocative movie that elevates rueful melancholia to a superpower. Read Full Review » -
88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Like the old and creaky Belafonte, the film itself seems forever on the brink of drifting away. But it's the kind of drifting that's nothing but enjoyable. In fact, it's beyond enjoyable - heading into waters full of whimsy, mystery and odd, psychedelic fish. Read Full Review » -
80
The Hollywood Reporter
Wonderfully weird and wistful adventure-comedy about a fish-out-of-water oceanographer. Read Full Review » -
80
The New York Times
The actor's (Murray) quiet, downcast presence modulates the antic busyness that encircles him, and his performance is a triumph of comic minimalism. Read Full Review » -
78
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75
Charlotte Observer
Wes Anderson's movies taste that way to me. They're dryly funny, well-acted, never less than quirkily entertaining. But they're never more, either. Read Full Review » -
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
A movie deeply immersed in movie lore, and the more seasoned the swimmer the richer the experience. Read Full Review » -
75
Rolling Stone
Wilson drops the ironic smirk to give a sincerely affecting performance. His scenes with Murray provide the ballast when the script veers off into unconvincing pirate attacks and animated sea creatures. Read Full Review » -
75
New York Post
Intermittently brilliant, intermittently hilarious -- and occasionally tedious. Read Full Review » -
75
San Francisco Chronicle
It's almost a great movie. For half of its running time, Anderson maintains a distinct and arresting tone of vague absurdity, and then he loses control and the film begins to dip into silliness. Individual scenes become labored. Yet even at its worst, The Life Aquatic is always interesting -- there's really nothing else like it. Read Full Review » -
70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Even when caught in a rut, Anderson's obsessive vision still yields many exhilarating surprises. Read Full Review » -
70
The New Yorker
Nobody could leave The Life Aquatic without the impression of having nearly drowned in some secret and melancholy game. Read Full Review » -
70
Washington Post
Hovers frustratingly somewhere between charming and only mildly amusing. Read Full Review » -
67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
None of it is truly inspired, but Murray's deadpan presence holds it all together. Read Full Review » -
67
Portland Oregonian
A fascinating, masterly, frustrating film, it only passingly touches on the heart and sharpness of Anderson's previous work and rather brings to mind the famous complaint of the emperor in "Amadeus": "too many notes." Read Full Review » -
67
Entertainment Weekly
As someone who has warmed up to Anderson's work only gradually, I'd call this a step back for him, but I also can't help but wonder: Will he ever take that crucial step forward and stop saying, Isn't it ironic? Read Full Review » -
63
ReelViews
It is not as engaging as "The Royal Tenenbaums," but about on par with "Rushmore" and "Bottle Rocket." Read Full Review » -
63
Chicago Sun-Times
The damnedest film. I can't recommend it, but I would not for one second discourage you from seeing it. Read Full Review » -
60
Chicago Reader
Noah Baumbach collaborated on the arch script, whose bittersweet weirdness leaves a residue even as the narrative disintegrates. Read Full Review » -
60
Village Voice
Murray is always pleasurable company, and his barely suppressed soulfulness might've supported this dawdling big-fish story if its insistent larkiness had abated and let a little reality in, as had "Rushmore." Read Full Review » -
60
LA Weekly
Somewhere buried beneath all this ballast something is being said, again, about flawed middle-aged men falling from grace and redeeming themselves. This time I'm damned if I know what that something is. Read Full Review » -
60
Empire
The garish, exotic, retro styling is Anderson at his visual best. In terms of character and sensibility, though, this is sadly Anderson at his worst. Read Full Review » -
50
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50
Wall Street Journal
There's a lot to appreciate here, especially Mr. Murray's variations on the sad but hopeful soul he played in "Rushmore" (and in "Lost In Translation"). Yet meanings get lost in a clutter of cleverness. Read Full Review » -
50
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50
Salon.com
Overburdened with knowingly charming touches. It's waterlogged with whimsy. Read Full Review » -
50
Slate
This one is a mess--a misshapen, mawkish tragicomedy bordering on self-parody. Its ambitions deserve respect, though. Read Full Review » -
50
Dallas Observer
The more technically proficient Anderson gets as a filmmaker, the more emotionally barren his movies become, till at last The Life Aquatic drowns in a sea of self-indulgent touches that delight the filmmaker but distance the filmgoer who wants to love the director and his characters but just can't, not anymore. Read Full Review » -
50
Chicago Tribune
A comedy that seems to have most everything going for it but the ability to make us laugh. Read Full Review » -
50
Film Threat
Will ultimately be remembered more for the trademark Anderson look than for any of its characters or any emotional impact. Read Full Review » -
50
Miami Herald
The movie still feels strangely inert; it's an adventure in which nothing ever really seems to happen. Read Full Review » -
50
Boston Globe
The film's meta-fey title alone is an example of why some people adore Anderson and why he drives others absolutely crazy. Read Full Review » -
40
TV Guide
It's so cool all the life has drained away, leaving nothing behind but a faint whiff of attitude. Read Full Review » -
38
New York Daily News
If there's anything more tiresome in film today than hip irony, it is forced irony, and here comes a boatload with Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. Read Full Review » -
25
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