rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 1996
Directed by Wes Anderson; produced by Cynthia Hargrave, Polly Platt; written by Owen Wilson, Wes Anderson
Starring Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, James Caan, Ned Dowd, Shea Fowler, Haley Miller, Robert Musgrave, Lumi Cavazos
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
'Bottle Rocket' repeats the first fifteen minutes of the short with the same
name, released in 1994. Writer director Wes Anderson collaborating with
writer Owen Wilson have made a nice first feature film, one that shows their
abilities to make a good film. Since they went on to make 'Rushmore', 'The
Royal Tenenbaums' and 'The Life Aquatic' they showed they could actually
make a really good film. Here they come close, with moments of pure
brilliance, but in between it is just another film.
We follow Dignan (Owen Wilson), Anthony (Luke Wilson) and Bob (Robert
Musgrave) in their pursuit of being a gangster and a quality thief. Anthony
is just being released out of a mental hospital, Dignan seems to be the
mental patient, and Bob as the rich kid goes along to provide the story with
his brother. A romance with a Paraguayan girl named Inez (Lumi Cavazos) and
some encounters with real gangster Mr. Henry (James Caan) make a 13-minute
short into a feature film.
Beginning, basically the short film version, and ending are pretty strong.
In the middle we have a more standard movie, especially around the love
affair. Although the dialogue is always interesting and especially the
Wilsons come with natural performances, the film never really engaged to me.
Still, the potential is clearly visible and even the lesser parts will keep
your attention well enough. A nice start for a terrific filmmakers.