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:	12/16/2008
UPC:	0715515033428
Original Release:	1996
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Time:	1:31:00
Sales rank:	8,919

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson and director of photography Robert Yeaman, with DTS-HD master audio 5.1 soundtrack; Audio commentary featuring Anderson and co/writer/actor Owen Wilson; The making of "Bottle Rocket," an original documentary by filmmaker Barry Braverman featuring Anderso,n, 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 Shafazi Lectures, No. 1: Bottle Rocket; Murita Cycles, a 1978 short film by Braverman; Plus: a booklet featuring an appreciation by director Martin Scorses 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

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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