Bottle Rocket

I love Wes Anderson's films and decided to watch them all. Unfortunately I can't say I enjoyed this one. The film bears none of the Anderson trademarks, camera angles, or interesting use of color and props he became famous for. Well, I suppose every great director had to start somewhere, this being his first feature. 'Bottle Rocket' is based on a short, directed by Anderson. It just didn't work as a 90-minute feature, as a lot of the time is made up by trivial actions and way too much dialogue. Oh, and was the love interest in the form of Anthony and Inez supposed to be romantic? In so many films, lust is confused with love. This is another example where the 'romance' is pure lust and about sexual gratification. The plot carries very little substance, and the final act is beyond stupid. This film seriously has very little to offer, except dialogue in abundance!

I have seen several of Wes Anderson's films and think they certainly are NOT for all tastes. Some I really liked--such as "The Royal Tannenbaums" and "Moonrise Kingdom". Some I did not like--such as "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou". But one thing these films all have in common is a very slow (glacially slow) pace and very, very quirky characters and dialog. Because of that, it might be worth seeing this film simply because there ain't anything like it! The film has a plot but doesn't really get to it until the last quarter of the film! Up until then, the plot just meanders very slowly and mostly consists of the Wilson brothers (Owen and Luke) doing lots of seemingly irrelevant things up until they go on a heist (such as a long and directionless road trip). This lack of direction certainly will annoy most viewers though the acting was quite nice. Eventually, the heist does take place and the film improves SIGNIFICANTLY. I liked how incredibly inept and stupid the robbery turned out to be. But, again, at times it also seemed to meander. So did I like the film? Well, I am not sure. SOME of it I liked and much of it seemed in need of editing. At least it gave me a chance to see Anderson's and the Wilson brothers' first full-length film. By the way, "Bottle Rocket" was originally a short film (1994). If you watch it, you can see a lot of the later feature and it is interesting to see how the short morphed into the full-length film.

Even though I'm just not a Wes Anderson fan I was liking this movie at first. However it soon started to become obvious that the movie wasn't heading anywhere and all of its 'jokes' and its light laid back kind of atmosphere was starting to get old and annoying after a while. I like quirky but Wes Anderson is simply always overdoing things. He thinks it is enough to give a character a funny name and let him stare or walk. This still works for about 30 minutes (which much have been the reason I liked the shorter and earlier 1994 version of "Bottle Rocket" way better) but it starts to get old pretty soon. Especially when nothing else is really happening in its script with its story and characters. This really disappointed me. It's one of those movies that tries to be as simple and realistic as possible, like independent movies often tend to do. Like a random slice of life, except with the problem that it just isn't that interesting to follow for 90 minutes long. It attempts to make even its most crazy events look realistic, which is a part of Wes Anderson his sort of comedy but I would had liked to get some more substance in this case. I just got nothing out of watching this movie. This really feels like a movie that got made by a bunch of student buddies, who went out to shoot a movie. In some way that also really was the case with this movie actually. Wes Anderson, as well as the Owen brothers (who strangely enough don't play brothers in this movie) were basically fresh out of school when they did this movie and it was their first full length production. In that regard you perhaps have to give some respect and credits to this movie. It paved the way for their careers and it's also somewhat fun to see how they haven't really deviated away from their own style, ever since. Good for its first 30 minutes or so but after that it starts to run out of steam fast. 6/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Its a good thing writer Owen Wilson knew somebody in the business (Kit Carson) otherwise this hunk of junk would never have been made. Hundreds of scripts of this quality are submitted each month to Hollywood and are tossed promptly aside. They spent 8 million making this film, but it only made 1 million. The plot is sluggish, spending entirely too much time at the hotel where the boys, fresh off a botched robbery, are hiding out without a clue as to what to do next. SPOILER The movie has a good "hook" (three bored suburbanites try to become crooks) and the plot twist at the end is a decent idea (while running a job predestined to fail, the boss robs the boys blind), but the writing is pretty weak and the directing worse. ENDSPOILER I am actually glad Owen Wilson made it into the business as a comedic actor, but I can see why he hasn't written another film. I don't recommend this movie, unless you are really bored, are a big Wilson Brother's fan, and like to have a movie running while you clean the house. Bubba Joe Louis

Bottle Rocket's plot isn't very heavy. Doesn't need to be; for Wes Anderson's first film he takes partly (in theory) a cue from Michael Cimino's Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. There too were the real oddball outsider characters, looking for a leg up but not with the same kind of zeal of a real hard-bitten criminal or neo-noir. In Bottle Rocket there's an ex-volunteer at an insane asylum and a guy who works for a landscaping company and the two are thick as thieves- only they're not good at actually being thieves, with one or two moments of exception. And yet Anderson doesn't mine for the easy parts for comic effect. His sense of humor is in the small things, little character traits or a moment that pops out. It may depend on how one sees the characters, and how much one is a fan of the Wilson brothers, Luke and Owen. But what Anderson does capture is that innocent feeling of being unsure of life and the things that make friendships kind of awkward at times. The three "criminals", played by Anthony, Dignan and Bob bicker and converse and do whatever like normal folk, not real gangsters like, say, Mr Henry (James Caan), but they aspire to that, and Dignan gets the closest. Meanwhile, on the lam from a robbery of a bookstore, Anthony falls for a Peruvian housemaid and Bob has his own worries with his backyard pot growth. Their appeal, really, is in how the interactions are based around a solid theme of loyalty and friendship, and the film-making takes it to another level. It's hard to say if I found this a really great comedy- there's a few big laughs, one with a hilarious botch during a climactic robbery with a shot at someone unexpected, and little ones like a PB&J just lifted off the ground or a bad encounter at a country club- but it's an unusually amazing heist-character-drama. Well, drama of sorts; it's the Wes Anderson style already in full mode, and it's exhilarating to watch him make 90 minutes feel a lot fuller, a lot more alive than most at such a running time. I also liked the Wilson brothers, with the both of them in their breakout roles completely on top with their subtle, zany and quietly crazy roles. Loved the music, the cinematography, but most of all the emphasis on character over plot. In heist movies, or just young/lost-20-something generation movies, it's rarely this good.

I'm fairly cool on Anderson's later projects. But this one is pretty perfect. I watched it with another film of this type and in a week with several others. Possibly the only way to make these things work is to find a new chink, a new layer between goofiness and endearing reality to invent. I say invent rather than depict because its all about where we place ourselves; if we can place ourselves new, that's usually enough to be effective, to connect. A large part of why this works is because it works toward an end that fails. Many movies are not about what we experience but what we remember, and the deal with this one is that we are left with someone who topples from any workable awareness. It reinvents that place where we are balanced throughout the movie. Even knowing the later films, I never wondered that this would end badly because the tone follows such a well established path, that one I've noted elsewhere. As with "Legally Blond," there's a notion that earnestness will overcome inadequacies in all other life skills. One of the political parties in the US has appropriated this, so in a way this can be considered as a political movie. That last look is what this is all about, just as that first look of Jack Nicholson's in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." I came to this in part because of Owen's suicide attempt: it adds context that matters. Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

The heist theme keeps this movie mildly interesting, but these characters' existences are so miserable and unfunny that sitting through an hour and a half of this was almost unbearable. Also, the soundtrack did not appeal to me, and it was over-played throughout the film. In light of today being the Marine Corps Birthday, I found this bit of IMDb trivia interesting, as well: "After the movie bombed at the box office, Owen Wilson seriously considered joining the Marines, convinced that acting held no future for him." He may have missed out on some good money, but he would have gained a whole set of awesome skills and a band of badass brothers & sisters. Oo-rah. For more reviews and a kickass podcast, check out: www.livemancave.com

The first and weakest of Wes Anderson's films, Bottle Rocket, is by no means a weak film. Co-written by then credited Owen C. Wilson, the screenplay is very intelligent and shows how the screen writing duo (Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson) has evolved. Starring the Wilson brothers, Owen and Luke Wilson, this small-budget comedy has what most large budget comedies lack, a perfect mix of drama and comedy. The film, about two friends that both were patients at a mental ward, portrays how innocent fun can sometimes hurt people. Rocket never becomes over-dramatic or slapstick in its comedy. It is clear that Anderson was experimenting with his style, and would not perfect it until his next film, Rushmore. The characters are clearly dysfunctional and like to take unnecessary risks at their own expense to make the script move along. This is not a fault in the script, but a blessing as this keeps the comedy and serious moments perfectly balanced. The cinematography is sometimes amateur with its unnecessary close-ups and wide angle panning. The soundtrack, done by Mark Mothersbaugh is excellent and just proves why he has worked an all of the subsequent films with Anderson. It seems Anderson and Wilson have an enormous talent when writing dialog for unusual, anomalous characters. This film is a testament to the fact that a good script, and a working knowledge of film work can create an original and enjoyable film.

This was Wes Anderssons directors debut. And you can really already recognize his artistic style, even if much smaller budget then his later films. This film also has this very family like tone, that I think comes from that almost everybody involved are real good friends, doing this together, trying to make their first movie, and also that the two leads are actual real brothers playing brothers. The film is about a bunch of guys that thinks that the life of crime is the way to go. But they're very far from any tough hard boild gangsters. They're thieves sure, but they kind of give you the sense they actually couldn't hurt a fly. It's a comedy but also with this sad tone, that I actually think is Wes Anderssons trade mark by now. And it's a really nice thing, something rare you don't see from any other movies, not in the same way at least. It gives you this really warm feeling. To me, what this movie is saying, is that we all try to be something we're not sometimes, we all have issues, we're all failures on some level and we all have insecurities, but... that's okey! The movie is also very funny. And well paced, even if perhaps a bit slow, I think it works well here. Some nice songs are included in the soundtrack also. And Owen and Luke plays their roles perfectly. Luke really seem depressed, it's actually a really good portrait of a chronically depressed person. Owen does the thing he does also beautifully, being this really optimistic enthusiastic guy but that's actually kind of sad and lonely inside, just brilliant peformens. I adore this little movie. So nice. Martin Scorsese actually said this is one of his favorite movies, that he watch multiple times. Kind of fun fact.