Review of Bottle Rocket (1996) by Rishaad M — 17 Jan 2009

Bottle Rocket is a quirky yet charming comedy from Wes Anderson in his debut.

The film follows three aimless and incompetent men who have a desire to become criminals, or rather feel the excitement that being a criminal brings. Dignan (Owen Wilson) is the highly confident yet inept "leader", Anthony (Luke Wilson) is kind but unmotivated "follower" while Bob (Robert Musgrave) is the self-concious and loyal "volunteer". Armed with a 75 year plan, they pull off a couple of low key robberies and hide out at an isolated motel. While there, Anthony falls for the housekeeper and after a short miscommunication, establish a relationship. Bob's brothers are arrested as the police find his marijuana crop and feeling guilty (despite their constant bullying of him), he abandons Dignan and Anthony. They steal a car and leave the motel to continue their life plan but enter a big fight about money and Anthony's relationship with the housekeeper, causing them to go on their separate ways. Dignan hesitantly apologises and they reconvene to pull off the big heist with Bob that was orchestrated by the elusive and eccentric Mr. Henry (James Caan). However, it goes terribly wrong and Dignan is caught by the police and sentences to 2 years in jail.

Bottle Rocket is a film of many debuts. Not only for Wes Anderson, but for both Luke and Owen Wilson as well, with both putting in great performances for a first time. I believe the Wilson brothers work best in scenes full of dialogue when they're able to work off of people, and fortunately Bottle Rocket features many scenes of just that. However, James Caan steals the film with his capricious and somewhat bizarre depiction of Mr. Henry that was utterly hilarious and delightful.

The dry humour that is synonymous with Wes Anderson is evident throughout, however it was much more subdued than in his other films. I didn't find it as easy to warm to and found myself most of the time merely giggling and telling myself it was an amusing joke, but not laughing. The big laughs are there, although quite sparse.

The employs several other of Wes Anderson's trademarks in a much raw style than you see later on in his career - vivid characterisation, great cinematography, underlying poignancy. And despite the comedy not being as engaging as his follow ups, Anderson's ability to create an atmosphere though musical transitions and unique camera angles is evident straight from the beginning of his career. It's these trademarks and the way that they're intricately formulated into the storytelling that I find myself appreciating much more than the comedy to go along with it in all of Anderson's films.

Bottle Rocket was not the film I expected it to be. It has all the enthusiasm and heart that every Wes Anderson film contains, but limited creativity to string the film together. It was initially at short film and was financed into a feature length one, which I think was the catalyst. It starts and end very strongly, but in the act of stretching out the story, forces it to lose its focus and takes us through things we don't need to see. Still, it's original and winsome enough to leave you pleased after 90 minutes.