Bottle Rocket (1996) is the feature length debut from indie director, Wes Anderson. Teaming up with his college friend, Anderson and Owen Wilson wrote and directed a short film titled Bottle Rocket (1994). Shot in black and white, Anderson would later develop this into his feature length debut. Starring brothers Owen and Luke Wilson in their feature film debuts, Bottle Rocket performed poorly at the box office but was received well by critics. Martin Scorsese named it as one of his ten favourite films of the 90s.
It’s interesting to note that Scorsese is a fan because his influence is clearly evident. The closest film to compare to Rocket is Mean Streets (1973). Besides from the same themes of teenage angst, petty crime and young love, Bottle Rocket and Mean Streets have a lot in common. Anderson’s use of popular music is a credit that is almost entirely indebted to Scorsese, who essentially created the popular music soundtrack. The use of music accentuates and compliments the notion of the misunderstood youth. But the clearer influence is seen during certain scenes. Scenes of Dignan, Anthony and Bob buying guns and setting off fireworks evoke similar scenes of Johnny Boy and Charlie creating havoc and fighting in bars. This brand of reckless youth is evident throughout Anderson’s body of work and is a central theme in many of his films.
Like his characters, Anderson too brought a naivety to his debut. Bottle Rocket, whilst a promising debut, does have a few flaws. It is clear that it was adapted from a short film. It feels like there’s not enough content to fill a full feature. I’m not a fan of the whole Inez part of the narrative, I feel like it doesn’t really further or add to the plot. Furthermore, the whole motel part of the film is rather dull and completely slows the film down, almost to a complete stop. Nevertheless, Bottle Rocket was brimming with promise that concludes with a fantastic and hilarious heist-gone-wrong finale.
A Film History Magazine 
Reblogged this on Charles Barkham.
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