Customer Reviews

Bottle Rocket (Widescreen/Full Screen)

5 star:		(140)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

A rambling, oddball shaggy dog story, but it packs some real emotion and laughs along the way. Terrific understated
performances, and good use of images and music.

I recently watched it a 2nd time and found I wasn't all that into it... until near the end, when it suddenly got me on a
deeper level emotionally than on first viewing. There's something in it about the loss of childhood dreams that resonates
beyond the silly and playful surface.

Low-key, deadpan humor is the name of the game in this quirky comedy that is chock full of Wilson brothers. Owen wrote and starred in the film alongside brother Luke, and yet another Wilson brother plays a small role as their buddy's brother. Bottle Rocket is definitely a quirky little film, and its humor won't appeal to everyone. Inevitably, you'll either enjoy it or wonder why such a nothing story was ever made into a film. By this point, I have to come to terms with the fact that I am actually an Owen Wilson fan; I can't help it - the man's just extremely funny.

The story centers around Anthony (Luke Wilson), who just got out of a voluntary mental hospital, and his one-of-a-kind buddy Dignan (Owen Wilson). Dignan has big plans; in fact, he has the next fifty years charted out. This master plan of his calls for Dignan and Anthony to pull a few burglary jobs and thus impress the local landscaper (I mean, criminal mastermind) Mr. Henry (James Caan) so much that he makes them part of his crew. Dignan obsessively maps out each facet of his plans, treating them as daring capers of great importance, but Anthony and his friend Bob (Robert Musgrave) tend to get distracted rather easily. The first job, a little after-hours bookstore robbery, sort of succeeds despite itself, and the trio goes on the lamb until the supposed heat is off, holing up in a cheap motel out in the middle of nowhere. Here's where things start falling apart, at least insofar as Dignan is concerned. Bob's all worried about his brother having been arrested for the pot that Bob was growing in his own backyard, while Anthony falls in a rather pathetic - but awfully sweet - kind of love with Inez the housekeeper (Lumi Cavazos) - despite her limited knowledge of English. Everyone goes his separate way, basically, but the gang comes back together in order to pull their most ambitious (and, of course, wildly unsuccessful) heist yet. There's not a great deal of story resolution at the end, but that's okay; the film's ambiguity is actually one of its strengths.

Bottle Rocket is a decidedly quirky film, but the characters of Dignan and Anthony really grow on you. Poor Dignan, despite all of his big plans and enthusiasm, is really just a loser going nowhere, while Anthony basically just wants the world to slow down to his low-key pace and to be reunited with Inez. The whole film thrives on a fairly intellectual brand of comedy - no toilet humor, outrageous pratfalls, or low-brow, course jokes to generate cheap laughs. Sure, the movie is sort of stupid, but the comedy certainly isn't. Basically, you either get Bottle Rocket or you don't. That's probably one of the reasons that the film has never managed to generate a giant blip on the radar screens of movie viewers - and that's too bad because Bottle Rocket really is a funny little oddball of a film.

Released in 1996, this is Wes Anderson's first feature movie and the beginning of a great career that has also included the fantastic quirky comedy-dramas "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums." "Bottle Rocket" isn't the equal of those films, but it is a great start to Anderson's career, and a fine little comedy. It also marked the beginning of the stardom of Owen Wilson, who co-wrote the script with Anderson and plays the most noticeable and memorable part. The film was shot in Texas, Anderson and Wilson's home state, based on a short film they had made two years earlier.

The movie has the type of laid-back and character-driven humor that won't appeal to everyone. This is comedy that doesn't target laughs or build up elaborate set-ups as most comedies do. Instead, the humor is continuously slow-pitched to you in the form of weird but likeable characters, off-center attitudes, and situations that seem familiar to us but are played in unreal ways and thus become extremely funny. All together, it's an extraordinarily enjoyable and pleasant movie that strolls through its story with no particular rush.

Owen's brother Luke Wilson, who had so far appeared in every Wes Anderson film, plays Anthony Adams, who gets out of a voluntary mental hospital after recuperating from a breakdown. His friend Dignan (Owen Wilson) has big plans for both of them -- a life of easy and enjoyable crime! Dignan doesn't have any good ideas, but tries to make up for it with endless enthusiasm and an outrageously optimistic view of life. Unfortunately, when things inevitably don't go well for him and his friends start criticizing him, he can fall into pretty bitter depressions. Owen Wilson has the character nailed down, and Dignan sets the tone for most of Wilson's other characters: the enthusiastic but misguided nut. Dignan gets his friend Bob (Robert Musgrave) in on his plan to pull a 'job' (and all of Dignan's 'jobs' are minor-league suburban affairs) that will attract the attention of the local crime boss/landscaper, Mr. Henry (James Caan in a brief but darned funny performance). Dignan get obsessed with his planning and attempts at damage control, while Anthony and Bob are more busy with the really important things in their lives: Anthony falls for a housekeeper at a motel (Lumi Cavazos, from "Like Water for Chocolate"), and Bob tries to deal with his bully of a brother, Future Man (Andrew Wilson -- yep, another Wilson).

The film has some sad and serious moments -- after all, these are characters who are really going NOWHERE in a very boring suburban landscape -- but with Dignan around it never stays down for long. There are plenty of chuckles and some real moments of howling laughter, especially during the climatic 'take down' (and I'm really using that term pretty loosely). Another Wes Anderson favorite actor, Kumar Pallana, who appeared as Pagoda in "The Royal Tenenbaums," is on-hand to add comedy as a safe-cracker (and again, I'm really using that term loosely).

If you like quirky, odd, but realistic comedy, and if you've enjoyed Owen Wilson in many of his later performances, "Bottle Rocket" is really worth a look.

(This DVD is, unfortunately, nothing special. The picture and sound are good, but it hasn't a single extra on it, not even a trailer.)

This movie is greatness. Two rules: Don't watch it alone or only one time.

"I can't concentrate unless the gun is on the table"

Wes Anderson's and Owen Wilson's Bottle Rocket is the most sympathetic film I have seen since...well, their most recent film, The Royal Tenenbaums. Professing to be a Wes Anderson adherent since the release of their third film--though I'd never seen his and Wilson's very first collaboration [pseudo fan--oh you better believe it], I finally surrendered the insanity and rented it from my local Blockbuster. All I can seem to say is, "Oh! What a film!" I, insanely, have refrained from writing a review of The Royal Tenenbaums because I know I will resort to sentimentality and will be unable to relate my thoughts intelligently and thus say nothing constructive. Now, however, I am forced to review Bottle Rocket, mainly because it is a deserving yet--unlike The Royal Tenenbaums--very undervalued film. Although directed in a crazy and amateur style [much different from the precision in the direction of Anderson's subsequent two films]--shaky hand-held camera and mismatched and unconfident musical choices--the writing is not noticeably second-rate to that in Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. Despite the film's very few problems, there is a pleasant sentiment accompanying the watching of this film--Bottle Rocket's cast and crew are comprised of family members and old friends [most every actor in the film has a Texan drawl], and even the sets seem to evoke a personal sentiment in the creators. Because of this familiarity, you, the viewer, are overwhelmed with the feeling that this film were made by people you actually knew, and--when there are mistakes--you don't even want to hold it against the makers or maintain any true negative feeling towards the film because it is just so nice.

The story is somewhat uncontained and unsystematic: two bored friends, Anthony [Luke Wilson] and Bob, are forced into participating in recreational robberies that are crazy [yet unassuming]--like holding up a book store at closing time--but grandly planned with an extravagant detail by Dignan [Owen Wilson], their whimsical, delusional and childish friend. Anthony and Bob, in their mid-twenties, are interested in relationships with girls or their families, but Dignan is interested in nothing but pulling off heists in revolutionary ways--hoping to be made into some kind of crime legend--since he's been fired from a job he really liked, working as a landscaper. The story of Bottle Rocket is easily and obviously reminiscent of Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer in that Tom, like Dignan, was more eager to fantasize and daydream than ever accomplish anything or even enter the real world while it was Huck, like Anthony, who tired of the childish fantasy games. Though the story is haphazard, it is one of the most compassionate and kind character analyses I've ever seen in a film. Dignan holds grudges and is easily upset, but he's always the one receiving the punches and never giving them, and when arguments start he instantly begs everyone with a pitiful desperation to stop fighting. "You know, I'm not always as confident as I look," Dignan confides after being heckled by some older, cooler, and more accomplished guys for wearing a yellow jumpsuit. His friend, Anthony, tries to console him by saying, "Did you see what they were wearing?" but all Dignan replies with is, "Yeah, it looked pretty cool." Owen Wilson, unlike in the other films, is the primary writer of Bottle Rocket and adds a comprehension of the character that only autobiographical experience could possibly invoke. The writing and execution of the other major players, Anthony and Bob, fail in comparison to the utter vitality exuded through the personality of Dignan, and this disproportion proves to be the major downfall of the film. Nevertheless, though characters like Max Fischer, Royal Tenenbaum and Eli Cash are extremely well-written and are quite effective, Bottle Rocket's Dignan is the most kindhearted and benevolent character ever created by Anderson and Wilson--or anyone else, for that matter.

At what the Wilson/Anderson writng team were up to before thier Rushmore and Royal Tenenbaums masterpieces. In comparison it is really a pretty boring movie, but it's got some funny moments, as well as a really enjoyable soundtrack, so still fun nevertheless. I reccomend it if you liked the royal tenenbaums, rushmore, or both.(which I can't see how you can't like them unless you're just a bisexual babyeater)

Taking a trip into Wes Anderson's head is like going into a parallel universe where most things are the same, but the nature of reality is just slightly warped. And that formula holds true for "Bottle Rocket," his first collaboration with actor Owen Wilson (who also stars), an absurdist crime caper.

Anthony (Luke Wilson) has just been released from a mental hospital after being treated for exhaustion ("You haven't worked a day in your life. How could you be exhausted?"). He hangs out with his idealistically weird pal Dignan (Owen Wilson), who has mapped out his life over the next 75 years. Dignan, having seen a TV special, has decided to become a master criminal.

First they recruitt the timid Bob (Bob Musgrave) as the getaway driver, as he is the only one who has a car. They practice for a while on smaller-time burglaries, such as robbing a bookstore -- then hiding out at a motel, where Anthony falls in love with the pretty South-American maid (Lumi Cavazos). However, the guys find themselves in hot water when they bump into a REAL crime boss (James Caan).

Wes Anderson's touch is a little rough in his movie debut, but it's that slightly unpolished touch that makes his offbeat style a delight here. For example, Anthony "escapes" from a hospital that he can leave anytime he wants. That unnecessarily complex opener sets the tone of the rest of the movie, of thrillseeking young men who are just a little out of sync with the rest of us.

Don't expect stupid puns, toilet humor and bad sex jokes. "Bottle Rocket" shares the dry, funny, erratic humor of Anderson's later movies. Not to mention a thousand funny little lines ("Bob stole his car!"). Anderson and Wilson avoid being self-consciously cool, in favor of being earnestly quirky. No banter, just wit.

The Wilson brothers are in fine form here, especially when interacting with one another. Anthony is calmer and thinks a lot; Dignan is idealistic and wacky almost to the point of mental illness. They have a certain innocence despite their illegal ambitions, and it's fun just to see them ramble around. They, Inez and Bob are sort of misfits, but not the kind you laugh at.

It's a little erratic, but "Bottle Rocket" comes across as fresh, weird, and extremely well-done. Funny, zany and charming crime comedy with a twist of Wes Anderson.

I might as well not even try to give 'Bottle Rocket' a fair and balanced review because Owen Wilson is all I can talk about when it comes to this movie. His character, Dignan, is the embodiment of what movie characters should be-entities that live beyond the movie, beyond time, and beyond the actor who plays them. Dignan is quite possibly the best movie creation I have seen in a LONG time. I have a newfound respect for Owen Wilson's acting and his screenwriting ability.

With my short homage to Dignan being over (for now...), I will say that 'Bottle Rocket' does not fail to live up to Wes Anderson's usual offbeat comedies. Having seen 'Rushmore' and 'The Royal Tenenbaums' before this movie, I was well prepared for the characters in 'Bottle Rocket' to be slightly insane and freakishly realistic at the same time. There seems to be a common vein that runs through all of Anderson's lead characters-an insatiable drive towards something that the audience (and other characters) may not be able to grasp until the end. You know going into a Wes Anderson film that you are going to be treated with a rare glimpse of an indiscernible time period where the constraints of reality/normalcy do not exist.

I must agree with many of the other reviewers here in that this movie is definitely not for people who can ONLY find humor in the obvious slapstick/punch-line formula. I think all of Anderson's movies are in the "love 'em or hate 'em" category for this reason. The humor in this movie is understated, of course, and it lives within the idiosyncrasies of the characters. The way certain characters deliver their dialogue with their own unique brand of subtle comedy makes this movie what it is-a completely quotable riot for those "in the know" to relish on.

And now I'm back to Dignan. His sincerity and enthusiasm will overwhelm you. In one scene all he does is make a semi honk its horn with the usual yanking motion out a car window, but the gleam in his eyes and smile on his face when he says "Did you hear that?" evokes a pure, childlike excitement that lights up the screen. Dignan definitely sees through the eyes of a child-the world is in black and white to him...maybe only one color, actually. The only things that matter to him are his best bud, Anthony (Luke Wilson as the compassionate realist he plays well) and his "75-Year Plan."

Okay, I must finish here because I could go on for a while...nobody wants that. Just watch this movie. "I'm calling my gang! KA-CAW! KA-CAW!"

I had no idea what I was getting in to when I purchased this DVD prior to viewing (as I often do); I was just excited to find another movie with both the talented Wilson brothers. The humor, as typical for Owen, is understated and clever. The twist may have been predictable if you are looking for one, but viewing the film with the abandon with which indie films are usually created allows for more enjoyment of the film. The development of the characters in the way they are similar and at the same time uniquely different adds to the appeal of the film. Not a profound or moving film in the life-questioning, verging on depressing nature of many of my favorite indie films, but pleasantly uplifting in the way the characters portray a dedicated belief in their ideals, no matter the level of their seeming importance to others.

Brilliant, funny, and undescrible. The characters are great, as well as the lines that you will quote, over and over. So many good ones! You have to watch more than once, of course, like caddyshack. And like that movie, you either dig it or don't get it. Anwya, the friendships between odd characters in wacky situations are always good for a laugh. Owen is a master of doing it. Bottle Rocket is unique and totally deserves the high rating, as its one of the best.