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Bottle Rocket [Blu-ray]

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***Spoilers Within***

Bottle Rocket is one of the hardest movies I've ever decided to review. The story isn't great and the acting isn't meant to be taken seriously. There aren't any memorable messages or profound events. So why has it become one of my favorite comedies?

It's all about tone and style.

Director Wes Anderson doesn't look for the obvious laugh. It doesn't matter whether the story makes sense or whether events fit perfectly. Anderson reminds me of David Lynch in some ways, but the subject matter is generally much lighter. He creates worlds, and there's something not quite right with those worlds. It makes them fascinating places to visit.

Bottle Rocket begins with Anthony (Luke Wilson) feigning escape from a mental institution which he attends voluntarily. He does this to make things more exciting for his friend, Dignan (Owen Wilson). Dignan is an interesting character. He's capable of doing idiotic things, but he's not exactly stupid. He just can't see the danger in some of the bizarre things he attempts. We are shown his 75-year plan, outlining all the goals he's aiming to reach over the course of his life.

Dignan sees himself as a criminal mastermind and practices by helping Anthony rob his own house. The pair hang around with their friend, Bob (Musgrove), who drives their getaway car because he's the only one of the group who owns a car. The group proves how utterly inept it is during a bookstore robbery. They are so bad that it works well as comedy. After the robbery, the group decides to flee the town and hides in a motel.

Anthony falls in love with a housekeeper at the motel, despite the fact that she can barely speak any English. He does his best to communicate and occasionally enlists the help of someone to translate. That leads to major confusion at one point in the movie.

Dignan eventually introduces the gang to Mr. Henry (Caan), who once fired him from his job as a landscape gardener. Dignan believes that Henry's company is just a front and that he's also a criminal mastermind. He wants to prove to Henry that he can pull off robberies of his own and so he plans a raid on a storage facility with Anthony, Bob and some of Henry's friends. This sequence is ridiculous and highlights just how idiotic Dignan can be. When the robbery is interrupted and they have been seen, he instructs the group to put on their bandit masks.

Bottle Rocket marked the debuts of Luke and Owen Wilson, and Owen Wilson helped Wes Anderson with the screenplay. It's a film made by a group of friends who had known each other since they met in school. The film was rejected by the Sundance Festival, and initial test screenings were a disaster. It appeared that nobody wanted to embrace Anderson's quirky sense of humor. However, over the years, Bottle Rocket has gained a lot of fans.

Wes Anderson's career has blossomed since his debut, but he's always retained that quirky style and tone. Bottle Rocket isn't perfect, but it's significant to me because it's where everything began for Anderson.

Criterion's Blu-ray looks great and the special features provide fans with plenty of background information. It also contains the Bottle Rocket short and it's worth watching to see how the film evolved.

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 while the world of "Bottle Rocket" -- Anderson's first collaboration with actor Owen Wilson -- is a little rough around the edges, the absurdist crime caper is a jewel. And while it sounds like yet another goofy comedy, Anderson's signature quirkiness is already in place -- a heavy dose of his dry, erratic, clever wit and some lovable misfit characters.

After being treated for exhaustion ("You haven't worked a day in your life. How could you be exhausted?"), Anthony (Luke Wilson) has just been released from a voluntary mental hospital.

His "rescuer" is his idealistically weird pal Dignan (Owen Wilson), who has decided to become a master criminal. To this end, he has created an elaborate 75-year plan of theft and heists. You can guess where that's going to take them. After an absurd first heist, they recruit the timid Bob (Bob Musgrave) as the getaway driver, as he is the only one who has a car.

And so the odd little trio practice for a while on smaller-time burglaries, such as robbing a bookstore and Anthony's own house -- 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 master criminal (James Caan), and Bob bails out on them. The hot water is rising.

Comedic crime caper movies are hard to make, because of the need for balance between the criminal activities and the comedy... without making any of it too stupid or over the top. Wes Anderson solves this dilemma by making this a caper carried off by affluent young slackers who could easily do stuff other than thieving their way through life. And that's half of "Bottle Rocket's" comedy appeal right there -- the unlikely criminals.

The other half is handling humor that would be stupid and forgettable in another auteur's hands. Wes Anderson's uniquely quirky touch is a little rough in his full-length debut, but it's that slightly unpolished touch that makes his offbeat style such a delight here -- as an 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 thrill-seeking young men who are just a little out of sync with the rest of the world.

And "Bottle Rocket" shares the dry, funny, erratic humor of Anderson's later movies, albeit in a slightly more energetic manner ("Here are just a few of the key ingredients: dynamite, pole vaulting, laughing gas, choppers..." Dignan explains). And the scripting is peppered with a thousand funny little lines ("Which part of Mexico are you from?" "Paraguay"). Anderson and Wilson avoid being self-consciously cool, in favor of being earnestly quirky.

And the Wilson brothers -- Owen and Luke both -- are in fine form here as the Odd Couplish friends, especially when interacting with one another. Anthony is calmer, more laid-back and thinks a lot, while Dignan is idealistic and wacky almost to the point of mental illness. This pair have a certain innocence despite their illegal ambitions, and while they're goofy misfits, they're not the kind you laugh at.

Since most of Wes Anderson's work has been released in a Criterion deluxe edition, it's about freaking time someone gave similarly loving care to "Bottle Rocket." Both the forthcoming double-disc DVD edition and the Blu-ray edition are going to have a wealth of extras for fans of Anderson's, and it's hard to imagine that there's any more it would need. Criterion has apparently not only put in everything it needs, but actually slightly more.

In particular, it has newly restored picture, eleven deleted scenes that were left on the cutting room floor, actor/director commentary from Anderson and Owen Wilson, a new documentary about the making of the film, screen tests, storyboards, behind the scenes photographs, and a booklet with essay by James L. Brooks and "appreciation" by Martin Scorsese. As an extra bonus, it has some short films as well -- a 1970s half-hour film called "Murita Cycles" about a bicycle repairman/philosopher, and the 1994 short film "Bottle Rocket" that served as the basis for the full-length one.

"Bottle Rocket" is a bit erratic and rough around the edges, but it's also fresh, weird and delightfully zany. Anderson should try his hand at this sort of stuff again, because he has a rare talent for such films.

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.

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.