Film Review: Bottle Rocket

Director: Wes Anderson

A 1996 Comedy film that is renowned for bringing Owen Wilson into the limelight as this was his acting debut, he also co-wrote the script and with his short hair it helps to make him look very young compared to the Owen Wilson we see today. This was also Wes Anderson's first film which like some of his other films struggled at the box office but received generally positive praise from critics.

Dignan (Owen Wilson) rescues his brother Anthony (Luke Wilson) from a psychiatric unit so that they can work on their elaborate 75 year plan that involves planning and executing a number of lucrative heists. They practice by robbing Anthony's house but manage to make a mistake which Dignan isn't happy about before they rob from a book store which doesn't quite go to plan either. When Anthony falls in love and other things go awry they have to examine exactly what they want to do in life.

Anthony Adams (Luke Wilson) with Ines (Lumi Cavazos) and Dignan (Owen Wilson)

Like many of Wes Anderson's films he creates characters that are like-able and easy to care for but on the downside his films often lack a sense of direction or urgency in the plot. Quite often this film idly drifted along with little happening to keep you interested. It's a film of many nice small moments that over the entire film don't really come together to produce much.

It's a reasonably familiar premise of young innocent men choosing a life of crime for which they are far too naive to be successful in. Owen Wilson is the best performer as the dreaming yet slightly off Dignan who appears to be the brain behind their schemes despite not necessarily possessing the smarts to pull it off. Bottle Rocket has the feel of a small independent movie but is too self-indulgent and surprisingly cost a lot more to make than you'd believe. I've never been a big fan of Wes Anderson's films and unfortunately Bottle Rocket did little to change that.

2/4 Some nice scenes but overall the film likes direction.