Bottle Rocket is Wes Anderson’s first film. It’s based on a short that he created a few years earlier. Anderson, and his roommate, Owen Wilson, wrote the script for the full-length film.
It begins with Anthony being “rescued” by his friend Dignan from a voluntary mental hospital, where he had been staying for exhaustion. On the train back to their hometown, Dignan explains his elaborate 75-year plan that he has created for the two of them. The plan is to pull off several heists, and then meet Mr. Henry, a landscaper and part-time criminal. On the way, they hire a getaway driver named, Bob.
Anthony is a kind guy who feels like he is a failure. At the beginning of the film, he breaks into his mother’s house. When he realizes that Dignan stole the earrings that he had bought his mother, he takes them to his sister to return. He wants his sister to look up to him, and when she doesn’t, he breaks down. He is manipulated by Dignan, and feels like it’s his responsibility to help Dignan feel needed.
Dignan is the jealous friend. He wants to be the leader, the one that gets that attention, the one who is loved, and respected. He is fueled by buzzing energy that needs a direction; he focuses it on petty crime. Though he is rather unstable, and his relationship with his friends is tense, he is loved by the people around him. He is betrayed by Mr. Henry later in the film.
Bob is repeatedly beat up by his brother. However, he returns from the team’s incognito Mexico trip to bail him out of jail. He wanted really badly to be part of the team, but in the moment of truth, he flakes out; so does Anthony.
After the three lost boys steal a small sum of money from a bookstore, they hide out at a motel in Mexico until everything blows over. There, Anthony meets the maid, Ines, and falls in love with her instantly, even though she cannot speak English. Anthony requests her to return with him to Texas, but she declines. He leaves without knowing that she loves him.
Dignan and Anthony get in a fight over him giving Ines all of their heist money, and go separate ways. Months pass before Dignan, who has now joined Mr. Henry’s gang, attempts to reconcile with Anthony. Dignan tries to persuade Anthony to join him in a crime for Mr. Henry. He declines until Mr. Henry guilts him into it, by telling him that he has broken Dignan’s heart.
They plan on breaking into a cold storage facility. Their heist quickly turns to chaos. They accomplish nothing. Dignan is arrested.
It is obvious in this film that Wes Anderson hadn’t yet developed as a director. It’s messier than his other films, and not as impacting. However, there are reoccurring themes, like family and finding a direction for life, and evolving filming techniques that are familiar. He uses close ups to show details and to develop characters; he even uses a binocular view at one point, which is repeated in his other films.
In all, this film is weak compared to the other Anderson films. Its low budget, disorganized, and comparable to a low caliber Indie film- it gets close to being good, and you can tell that it is really trying, but it just doesn’t make it. However, even though it is not my favorite, I still enjoy it. The dialog is more emotional than his other films, and reminiscent of Salinger’s books. Some scenes are very well done, and it feels like there’s a secret in the movie that I still don’t quite understand. It’s worth watching, and worth liking, but, even though you can see Anderson’s style evolve in it, his aesthetic isn’t there, his characters aren’t as developed, and his plot has some tweaks. The movie just doesn’t have a lasting impact.
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