Above see level

It’s a given that the films of Wes Anderson are an acquired taste. Look up “quirky” in a dictionary and you’ll probably find “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “Rushmore.” Thanks to those offbeat offerings, Anderson has become the poster boy for eccentric, counter-culture filmmaking.

Now Anderson takes “quirky” to the nth power with “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” his strangest film to date. It remains to be seen if many filmgoers will be able to acquire the taste to appreciate it.

Certainly, there are elements to embrace, starting with that lovable oddball, Bill Murray, as the title character, an undersea explorer and filmmaker, clearly modeled on Jacques Cousteau. “The Life Aquatic” follows the adventures of Zissou and his crew as they chase an exotic tiger shark that ate his partner on a previous exploration.

But be aware that Murray’s rendering of this weary, whimsical and surprisingly melancholy character has much more in common with the guys he played in “Lost in Translation” and earlier Anderson films than with the wacky comic graduate of “Saturday Night Live.”

Zissou is joined on his odyssey by an easily offended German assistant (Willem Dafoe), a pregnant journalist (Cate Blanchett), an estranged wife (Anjelica Huston), an Air Kentucky co-pilot named Ned (Owen Wilson) who claims to be Zissou’s long-lost son, a competitor (Jeff Goldblum) who is especially upset because Zissou has stolen his espresso machine, and a Brazilian crewman (Seu Jorge) whose sole function is to sit on the deck with his acoustic guitar, singing Portuguese versions of such David Bowie songs as “Ziggy Stardust.”

Clearly, there are enough eccentric characters jammed into Zissou’s boat to populate a dozen other movies. Combined, they overwhelm you with their attempts to be charmingly weird; and you never believe in them enough to care about them. Zissou, in particular, remains a cipher.

Beneath all the droll nuttiness, there’s the hint of a father-son theme, as Zissou and Ned develop a relationship. Yet, this is already oft-explored material for Anderson. He frequently searches for long-lost fathers in his films.

With the narrative alternating between the too obscure and the too familiar, viewers will try to stay afloat by enjoying the film’s admittedly brilliant production design. Filming largely in Italy, Anderson leans heavily on the influence of Federico Fellini, from the use of bright color to the odd characters to the purposeful, Felliniesque blend of reality and fantasy.

For example, Anderson uses unreal puppets and cutesy animation for his denizens of the deep. I often discover a delayed positive reaction to Anderson films – that was the case with “The Royal Tenenbaums.” And I’m already discovering moments from “The Life Aquatic” popping unexpectedly into my brain, but I still can’t tell you the film is a cohesive and successfully engrossing story.