Bottle Rocket

Wes Anderson, 1995 (8.4*)

This is a fine debut for director Anderson (Life Aquatic, Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, Darjeeling Unlimited), and is also the debut of the Wilson brothers, Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson - in addition, Owen co-wrote this screenplay with Anderson. This quirky comedy pokes fun at all the heist films where small crime gangs are put together to plan and execute the perfect heist. This gang is all buddies going nowhere, and one even tells the leader (Owen) that he can't go do a crime because "my wife won't let me".

This also becomes a road film, as the gang goes 'on the lam' at one point, getting stuck at a desert motel in nowhere USA. In a way, the story is really going nowhere, but like life, most of the experience is gained from the journey, not the outcome. Same here - if you don't expect a lot from this small indie film, you may be more open to its small pleasures. Owen Wilson is appropriately dopey here, Luke is appropriately more romantic and serious, so they make a nice team. There is much argument on the forums at IMDB, if this is Anderson's best. I may side with Fantastic Mr. Fox (review to follow) just because of it's originality, but this is certainly a worthy debut effort, better than most.