rbverhoef
'Bottle Rocket' is the first project written by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, starring Owen and his brother Luke. This short, shown at Sundance, made sure they got to make the feature film 'Bottle Rocket' (1996). Of course they came with 'Rushmore', 'The Royal Tenenbaums' and 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou' next.This short, shot in black and white, is sort of the same as the first fifteen minutes of the feature film version. It shows three friends named Dignan (Owen Wilson), Anthony (Luke) and Bob (Robert Musgrave) preparing for a heist, not much more. Before the real deal they practice once, buy guns, and then it's show time.The dialogue and natural acting makes this an above average short film. The writing is pretty clever and most moments will make you smile. Most of the time it is quite exciting to see one of those "first films" from established directors; 'Bottle Rocket' is no exception.
mram16
Set to a jazz soundtrack, this short film set the stage for the feature film of the same name. Several scenes look almost identical to scenes from the feature, including the robbery of Anthony's mother's house, the firearm purchase and the planning of the bookstore robbery. There seems to be a bit more cursing present in the short than in the feature, and it makes for a few laughs. The dialogue contains the usual wit expected from Wilson and Anderson, and the black and white photography looks nice. The bookstore robbery isn't shown, but explained after the fact to Bob by Anthony and Dignan; this is a drawback, it isn't as amusing as actually watching it happen. The film ends on a funny note with Anthony and Dignan betting on which one of them would win in a foot race.
DJAkin
When I was going to highschool with Owen, I alwasy knew he'd make a movie. What I didn't know is that it would be SO GOOD! This is the first Owen movie I ever saw. It has all the elements of a well crafted film. Owen knew what he was doing when he wrote this movie. His acting was top notch and the interaction between him and his friends make me think of the way I relate to my friends. Owen takes the viewers in and doesn't let them out until he says so. The scenes were filmed in Texas (Owen's native state) and it is so interesting to see the way he pays homage to Texas in not one, but many scenes. If you liked Owen in his blockbuster movies, you owe it to yourself to see him in bottle rocket. The movie that "launched" his career as our generations James Stewart.
RyeOfTheDead
I rented this movie based on comments on this page and thought it was absolutley god-awful and terrible. Yes the dialogue is littered with lots of subtle jokes. I got most of them, but they weren't that funny. The plot is dry and at many times I considered turning it off. The only thing that kept me from doing so was the paralyzing pain that this horrid movie caused me, so I could not lift the remote.If you desire to see this movie, I recommend laying down in front of a truck as a substitute.
AD
