The Odyssey Backdrop Blur
The Odyssey Poster

The Odyssey

The aquatic adventure of the highly influential and fearlessly ambitious pioneer, innovator, filmmaker, researcher, and conservationist, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, covers roughly thirty years of an inarguably rich in achievements life.

Top Cast

  • Lambert Wilson

    Lambert Wilson

    Jacques-Yves Cousteau

  • Pierre Niney

    Pierre Niney

    Philippe Cousteau

  • Audrey Tautou

    Audrey Tautou

    Simone Melchior Cousteau

  • Laurent Lucas

    Laurent Lucas

    Philippe Tailliez

  • Benjamin Lavernhe

    Benjamin Lavernhe

    Jean-Michel Cousteau

  • Vincent Heneine

    Vincent Heneine

    Albert 'Bébert' Falco

  • Thibault de Montalembert

    Thibault de Montalembert

    Etienne Deshaies

  • Roger Van Hool

    Roger Van Hool

    Daniel Cousteau dit Daddy

  • Chloe Hirschman

    Chloe Hirschman

    Jan Cousteau

Overview

The aquatic adventure of the highly influential and fearlessly ambitious pioneer, innovator, filmmaker, researcher, and conservationist, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, covers roughly thirty years of an inarguably rich in achievements life.

Rating

6.6 / 10
433 Reviews
1 Popular

1 Reviews

  • CinemaSerf
    CinemaSerf
    6 May 15, 2024

    Lambert Wilson is the innovative underwater explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau in this rather unremarkable depiction of his life and career. He is married to Simone (Audrey Tautou) but has a bit of a wandering eye so they become maritally estranged, even though they continue to live and workout on their converted WWII minesweeper "Calypso". Needless to say, this puts some strain on the rest of the family, not least upon his relationship with his publicity magnet, heart-throb, eldest Philippe (Pierre Niney). The latter man's character is used as a barometer a little here to measure the actions of his father. The exploration activities must face stark realities. Money is needed to buy the 1½ tons of fuel the ship needs each trip, and that's before wages and other costs associated with their more scientific endeavours have to be paid. This leads to Cousteau becoming more of a businessman with almost corporate responsibilities. It's those activities that see a split between father and son that lasts until a trip to the Antarctic that sees a well documented tragedy hit the family. For the most part this is a soap opera of a film with nowhere near enough focus on what made the man famous in the first place. There is some underwater photography to liven things up, and a sequence with an expanding group of sharks that's quite menacingly filmed, but there's not really enough of that to compensate for the listless melodrama that's played out. The camera does love Niney and Tautou, and Wilson is competent enough in what is essentially a light-weight and slightly adulatory tale of a man who was clearly much more interesting, flawed and charismatic than we see here.

Trailers & Clips

Recommendations

Turning Tide

Yann Madec, long-time best mate of Frank Drevil, the star skipper of Global System Insurance, sees his dream come true when he replaces the injured Frank at the last minute for the start of the Vendée Globe. Nine days into the race and leading, Yann is forced to stop in Cape Verde to repair his broken center-board. Back in the race, Yann discovers a stowaway on board, a Senegalese teenager named Moussa. Faced with the risk of disqualification because of Moussa’s presence, Yann hesitates… Their encounter leads to the most unforgettable round-the-world race ever.

Turning Tide

6.2 2013