Bottle Rocket (1996) Review

 

Bottle Rocket (1996)

Bottle Rocket follows three friends, Anthony, Dignan, and Bob, who hatch a plan to pull off a simple robbery and go on the run, but thanks to a combination of love, tragedy, and loads of bad luck, this plan becomes anything but easy. 

Evolving from the short film of the same name (which I will definitely cover at some point), Wes Anderson’s debut film is an intriguing, often hilarious, and extremely quirky film that shows promise is Anderson’s indie beginnings. Running like a midwestern Reservoir Dogs, there’s a genuine warmth and affinity given to this personable trio of lovable slackers with big time ambitions but no actual ability to effectively realize said ambitions. They aren’t driven to commit crime out of necessity but out of a misguided desire to alleviate the numbing tedium of their drab, safe, and comfortable suburban existences. 

The genius, and heart, that lays in this early flick though is the way it utilizes it’s characters and a quick-witted script to tell a simple, yet sweet story of friends being friends, even if their exploits never go right. It builds towards that criminal pipe dream of one final score, and in end, like every other thing they try to accomplish, they fail, impressing on us and them: don’t quit your day job. 

We get an amusing cast as well, starring Andrew Wilson, Lumi Cavazos, and James Caan, with debut performances from Robert Musgrave, Owen Wilson, and Luke Wilson. The Wilson brothers are habitual collaborators with Anderson at this point but it was really neat to see their first joint effort together, as they (naturally) share a tremendous amount of witty, unconventional humor and chemistry as the bad friend who’s always influencing the good. 

Bottle Rocket, directed by Wes Anderson, is an offbeat, chaotic crime caper that truly feels like what it is—a passionate group of friends, making a movie and, like all of Anderson’s films, leaves an endearing, often heartfelt impact long after the credits role. 

7.7/10