Stars: Luke Wilson, Owen C. Wilson, James Caan, Robert Musgrave

Director: Wes Anderson

Summary: The tale of three would-be thieves who prove the importance of friendship, honour and duty as they disastrously pursue a life of crime.

The debut feature film for director Wes Anderson and actors Luke and Owen Wilson, BOTTLE ROCKET is a kind-hearted yet quirky tale about three friends who fashion themselves into modern-day robbers. After leaving his voluntary confinement in a mental home, Anthony (Luke Wilson) joins his friends Dignan (the film's co-writer, Owen Wilson) and Bob (Robert Musgrave) in a bookstore heist. In need of direction, more so than money, the three guys prove to be polite, but rather inept criminals. Nevertheless the job is a success, and the trio head out to a remote hotel, planning to lay low until they can return to join a gang of supposed professional criminals lead by the infamous Mr. Henry (James Caan).
Based on their own 1994 black-and-white short, the expanded film is part buddy movie, crime caper, and slacker comedy. First-time director Wes Anderson displays a sure hand, creating carefully composed scenes full of rich detail (shot on 27mm film, to ensure greater depth of field), schematic use of colour, and amusing, irreverent music (including a score by Mark Mothersbaugh, founding member of the punk band Devo). Full of sure-footed performances, BOTTLE ROCKET is a charming meditation on friendship, love, and innocence, conveyed with great humour and refreshing goodwill.

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Bottle Rocketis a quietly daffy comedy that should have been an indie hit, but ended up being ignored by audiences. Too bad; it's a wonderfully sustained caper movie about friends whose career choice is all wrong. Low-key Anthony (Luke Wilson) and high-strung Dignan (Owen C Wilson--the two actors are brothers) are brought into a life of crime by Dignan's ambition to be a small-time thief. After a few amusingly laid-back trial burglaries, they (and a third buddy) find themselves over their heads when they hook up with an experienced crime boss (James Caan).

Because this movie is so relentlessly deadpan, you really have to be dialled in to its brand of humour--but you're once there, Bottle Rocketshoots off plenty of sparks. Above all, Owen Wilson's portrayal of Dignan is a terrifically original comic creation; Dignan is so sincerely focused on his goals that he can't see how completely absurd his ideas are. Owen Wilson, who has since made something of a trademark out of similarly knuckle-headed performances in everything from Armageddonto Starsky &Hutch, wrote the screenplay with director Wes Anderson. --Robert Horton

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Subtitles:	Arabic, English, French, German, Hindi, Turkish
Year:	1995
Release Date:	April 5, 2004
Runtime:	88 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	C D R 24127
Keywords:	Comedy, General, Wide, Screen, Rocket, Bottle
Genre:	Comedy