Bottle Rocket

Director: Wes Anderson Wes Anderson

Overview

A bright, optimistic caper comedy from first-time director Wes Anderson, Bottle Rocket focuses on a group of young Texans aspiring to become master thieves. Their leader is Dignan (Owen C. Wilson, who also co-wrote the screenplay), an upbeat if naive charmer who convinces his friends Anthony (Wilson's brother Luke Wilson) and Bob Mapplethorpe (Robert Musgrave) to enter the crime business. After their first heist, a bizarrely-executed robbery of a local bookstore, the trio goes on the lam, taking up residence in a border hotel where Anthony falls in love with a maid played by Lumi Cavazos. When the three buddies decide that they need to return to the real world, they hook up with a master con-man (James Caan) who sends them on a daring -- if ill-concieved -- mission.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/25/2008
UPC:	0715515030724
Original Release:	1996
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Time:	1:31:00
Sales rank:	17,266

Special Features

Disc 1: ; New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson and cinematographer Robert Yeoman, with Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack; Audio commentary featuring Anderson and co-writer/actor Owen Wilson; ; Disc 2:; The Making of "Bottle Rocket," an original documentary by filmmaker Barry Braverman featuring Anderson, producer James L. Brooks, actors James Caan and Luke and Owen Wilson, and others; The original thirteen minute black and white Bottle Rocket short film from 1992; Eleven deleted scenes; Anamorphic test, storyboards, location photos; Behind the scenes photographs by Laura Wilson; The Shafrazi Lectures, No. 1: Bottle Rocket; Murita Cycles, a 1978 short film by Braveman; Plus: A booklet featuring an appreciation by director Martin Scorsese and an essay by Brooks; Original artwork by Ian Dingman

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Owen Wilson	Dignan
Luke Wilson	Anthony Adams
Robert Musgrave	Bob Mapplethorpe
Lumi Cavazos	Inez
James Caan	Mr. Henry
Andrew Wilson	Future Man
Jim Ponds	Applejack
Ned Dowd	Dr. Nichols
Kumar Pallana	Kumar

Technical Credits

Wes Anderson

Owen Wilson

Wes Anderson	Director,Screenwriter
Barbara Boyle	Executive Producer
James L. Brooks	Executive Producer
Stacy Brownrigg	Sound/Sound Designer
L.M. Kit Carson	Co-producer
Jerry Fleming	Art Director
Jim Goldthwait	Asst. Director
Cynthia Hargrave	Producer
Liz Keigley	Casting
Michael Lang	Associate Producer
David Moritz	Editor
Mark Mothersbaugh	Score Composer
Karen Patch	Costumes/Costume Designer
Polly Platt	Producer
Sandy Reynolds-Wasco	Set Decoration/Design
Richard Sakai	Executive Producer
Michael Taylor	Executive Producer
David Wasco	Production Designer
Owen Wilson	Screenwriter
Andrew Wilson	Associate Producer
Robert Yeoman	Cinematographer
Ray Zimmerman	Co-producer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Bottle Rocket - Feature Film
1. 75-Year Plan [7:24]
2. Bob Mapplethorpe, Potential Getaway Driver [6:25]
3. Bookstore Robbery [5:52]
4. On the Run From Johnny Law [6:12]
5. Motel [9:46]
6. "He Stole His Car!" [7:47]
7. Rocky's Scene [4:44]
8. Pointless Act [:29]
9. Applejack, a Good Man [5:17]
10. The Lawn Wranglers [6:03]
11. Mr. Henry's Party [7:48]
12. Hinckley Cold Storage Robbery [4:45]
13. 2000 Man [7:06]
14. Christmas at State Penitentiary [2:49]
15. End Credits [5:18]
16. Color Bars [3:37]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Bottle Rocket - Feature Film
   Play the Movie
   Chapters
   Commentary
      On
      Off
      Index
         A Real Movie
         "Bob Mapplethorpe, Potential Getaway Driver, Go!"
         Making It Personal
         Miami Vice
         One in Five Hundred
         "You Gotta Have Some Cheerleaders"
         Owen's Haircut
         "Why'd You Do It, Man?"
         Jimmy Caan
         Poor Dignan
         "A William Friedkin Kind of Thing to Do"
         Not Like Rififi
         Innocence
         Aiming Low
         "View the Whole in Wonder"
         Color Bars
Disc #2 -- Bottle Rocket - Special Features
   The Making of Bottle Rocket
      Play
      About
   Storyboards
   The Bottle Rocket Short
      Play
      About
      Miscellaneous
   Deleted Scenes
      Play All
      Sc. 8: Car Wash
      Sc. 9: Eating Sandwiches
      Sc. 11: Goff's Hamburgers
      Sc. 16: Driving Scene
      Sc. 19: Temple Nash Jr.
      Sc. 27-29: Police in Bob's Backyard
      Sc. 30: On the Lam
      Sc. 33-35: Commander Dignan
      Sc. 48-49: Bad News
      Sc. 58-59: At the Motel
      Sc. 88: Dignan and Applejack
   Murita Cycles
      Play
   The Shafrazi Lectures, No. 1: Bottle Rocket
   Anamorphic Test
      Play
   Photos by Laura Wilson

Editorial Reviews

Bottle Rocket, the first film by Rushmore director Wes Anderson, introduced not only a bright new directing talent in the quirky mold of the Coen brothers, but also the offbeat brother acting team of Luke and Owen Wilson, the latter of whom shares the film's screenwriting credit. Luke's laconic charm and Owen's peculiar chattiness -- yin and yang attributes in siblings -- have since served them well in a slew of increasingly mainstream movies, but never have they been more sweetly on display than in this comedy of misguided would-be outlaws in small-town Texas. The naivete of Owen Wilson's Dignan, who drags his friends along for a couple of silly robbery attempts, is heartwarming in its sincerity. Rarely has wanting to rise above a humdrum life to achieve wealth and allure been so poignant and hilarious. Take special note of the gut-busting scenes with Kumar Pallana as an absurd little man who's brought aboard as a safecracker without ever really understanding what's expected of him. Anderson's weightless touch ensures that even the recent breakdown of Luke Wilson's Anthony -- which he discusses in a scene with his young stepsister that is notable for its frankness and lack of condescension -- feels like the comfortable details of an acceptably imperfect world where everything will be okay. Martin Scorsese placed Bottle Rocket on his list of the ten best films of the 1990s, which gives some indication of the respect accorded to this little-seen film.

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