The Life Avionic

	The Aviator	The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
Public Triumph	Sets aviation records, beds starlets, flies world's biggest plane	Captures the jaguar shark on camera, earns film-festival accolades
Private Despair	Lives in germophobic solitude; saves pee in empty milk bottles	Realizes his estranged wife and dead partner were the brains in his outfit
Character Arc	Rise and fall	Fall and rise
White Whale	Spruce Goose	Jaguar shark
Cool Gadgets	Flying boat, record-setting planes, underwire bra for Jane Russell	Albino dolphin-cams, shipboard recording booth, mini sub
Fashion Statement	Off-the-rack Sears suits and tennis shoes	Tux or blue Speedo-depending on the occasion
Drug(s) of Choice	Whole milk, straight from the bottle	Campari and reefer
Key Phrase	"It's not safe"	"I think she's a bull dyke"
Nefarious Rival	Airline mogul Alec Baldwin	Fey magnate Jeff Goldblum
Big Battles	Stands up to U.S. Senate with Capra-esque speeches	Fights off pirates-twice
Response to Film-Premiere Paparazzi	Neurasthenic freak-out and hand washing	Punches out hectoring fan, more reefer
Tests of Courage	Repeatedly risks life for flying records	Begs estranged wife for money; makes pass at Cate Blanchett (see below)
The Cate Blanchett Hookup Factor	Score! Steamy private flying lessons and cohabitation in the Hollywood Hills	Shot down in flames! He loses the girl to his own son!
The Willem Dafoe Factor	Peddles tabloid photos of Hepburn-Tracy romance	Speaks with funny German accent
The Other Woman	Kate Beckinsale makes Ava Gardner as sexy as a nun	Effortlessly sultry Anjelica Huston keeps a shirtless Italian stallion as her boy toy
Scene-Stealing Support	Jude Law as Errol Flynn	Albino dolphins!
Biggest "Who?" Factor	B-movie ingenue Faith Domergue	Oseary Drakoulias (played by Michael Gambon): film financier or James Bond villain?
Drives Underlings Crazy by . . .	Risking entire fortune on overbudget planes and movies	Running out of fuel and stranding his ship while pursuing jaguar shark
Parallels to The Great Gatsby	Fabulous life, depressing end	Stands forlornly at end of darkened pier
Parallels to Citizen Kane	Audacious early promise is eclipsed by scandal and eccentricity	Left unfulfilled by fame, clings to past glories
Rosebud	Childhood bar of soap in pocket	Official Team Zissou ring
Haberdashery	Classic '30s fedoras and dashing aviation helmets	Red knit stocking cap to cover bald spot
Sequel Prospects?	Moves to Vegas, grows out hair and nails, wears tissue boxes on feet	There are always other fish in the sea

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