Review of Bottle Rocket (1996) by Dawdlingpoet — 25 Nov 2021

This movie I believe was written while Owen (and Luke(?)) and Wes were at university together in Texas in the 1990s and is now seen as a cult comedy hit.

Bottle Rocket is all about three friends who team up to escape their boring lifes and pursuit a life of petty crime. This eventually leads to the local criminal 'head honcho' who's played by James Caan, spotting them and convincing them to carry out a large heist - but is it too much for them to handle and will they get away with it?

The movie starts with Anthony (played by Luke Wilson) getting out out of a psychiatric ward (which he stayed at due to suffering exhaustion), with his friend Dignans help (played by Owen Wilson), even though he could voluntarily leave, Dignan was keen to try and help him 'escape' so Anthony let him and after they leave, Dignan proudly explains to Anthony his 75 year plan, which documents exactly how their going to live this life of petty crime and get by. Of course there is alot of naivety there and things don't really work out as planned but its Dignans character that you really feel most intrigued by and interested in, in general (maybe im baised as a fan of Owens but I still feel that way). He tries so hard to believe that he has everything planned out and knows how to lead this semi fantastic life that will keep him and his friends going by ok and he clearly craves the responsibility of being the boss, where Anthony on the other hand is alot more dubious and unsure and tries to plan things more practically. Where Dignan is always the over optimist, Anthony is more the worrier but its in Dignans child like optimism and hope that he clearly has alot of belief in, that really makes the viewer feel for him. You worry that it won't be possible for him to carry out his plans and for everything to go just as planned in his 75 year plan and so the movie follows the three friends as they embark on the first stages of this plan... of course, as feared, not everything does go to plan but still Dignan comes across as the ever optimist, who tries to convince Anthony that they can overcome their problems and the three of them travel, staying at a motel for some time where Anthony falls for one of the motels maid, Ines, that happens to only properly speak Spanish, which is a problem considering that Anthony doesn't speak Spanish, so he gets a fellow motel employee to translate for him. This ends up causing problems where Dignan mistakenly gets the wrong message, put it that way!

There are definately some funny moments, again its pretty subtle comedy, as in all of Wes Andersons movies but it does definately have its moments. I thought the movie was in some ways pretty sentimental and idealistic I suppose you could say and I think if people had the faith in pursuing the life they want and believing in themselves like Dignan tries so hard to do in this movie, it would be a good thing. The characters in the movie are all fairly complicated and quirky and in a sense I suppose, thinking more negatively, you may feel as if it never really entirely 'gets off the ground', story wise but if you think about it afterwards, I think it works well enough. Its similar to Wes' other films with subtle messages and this particular film I thought was also quite sentimental and kind hearted, in a sense I suppose it has links to the great ol' American dream that they talk about (the general 'they') and the pursuit of some great life... of course you'll have to buy the movie to see if they manage to succeed with their planned life of petty crime and see what happens when their pushed into the heist... surely this is too much for them?

I quite enjoyed this movie, although it did get a bit slow in parts, I thought that the dialogue was particularly well thought out, with Dignan and Anthony having some pretty good quotes and of course the acting was good, this movie was a good starting place for the Wilson brothers, Bob Musgrave and as Wes' first film. Considering it didn't have a massive budget and it does have a slightly more independent film feel about it, which I think in a way adds to its charm, it works well. Again don't go in expecting lots of slapstick humour, think of it as a sort of a chronicle of a what happens to a small group of friends and one dreamer who believes he knows how to get through life in a slightly more unconventional way than normal... this is somewhat similar to other Wes movies with more sentimentality in it I feel and I do believe it is worth watching.