Bottle Rocket, 1996 - DVD

Originally a short film done in 1994, Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson brought the film to the big screen two years later. The short starred the three principle actors on this film; the Wilson brothers and Musgrave. It was produced, also, by Cynthia Hargrave, who went on to produce the feature. The Executive Producer of the short was L.M. Kit Carson. I'm not sure if you're goin to recognize the name. He wrote a number of films including The Last Word, Breathless (the Richard Gere film), Paris, Texas, Chinese Box and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (which he assoc. produced). From there he went to back the short film and also co-produced the feature.

A pretty cool turn of events. Anderson and Wilson kept the group together for the feature. I've never seen the short... it's been long hoped that Criterion would do a collection of Bottle Rocket, with audio commentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes and, hopefully, the short. Alas, no news yet.

This was the first film for Anderson and the Wilson brothers. An impressive first film, I must say. Musgrave was also good in his part, and it's a shame he's not getting more roles. Lumi Cavazos was excellent in her part in the film as well. With a budget of $7 million, Anderson and Owen Wilson had to concentrate quite hard to get not only the story right, but to develope the characters well.

This isn't such a low budget for a first time director (first feature), but the film has a large number of locations, along with a pretty lengthy list of characters. I've always found Anderson's films to be great character studies. He's chosen brilliant actors to help portray these characters, and the two Wilson brothers are night and day, perfect for their respective characters. You can see their personalities in this film, and see how they branched out separately, taking on roles that correspond with these first ones.

Something else that impressed me with the film was Anderson's confidence. You can see shots, choices for slow motion, angles and the way scenes unfold that he continued to develope in Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaum's. His style is solid, something that you cannot say about most first time films of other directors. Anderson had, and still has, a vision that is unclouded. Very rare. I compare him, most recently, to David Fincher in that respect. Two different styles of directing, but you can see their styles very clearly in their first features, and in all of the films that followed.

Anderson uses a number of his actors for this film in his other works. Brian Tenenbaum (where Anderson and Owen came up with the name for the film), Dipak Pallana, Donny Caicedo and Kumar Pallana, who has had large roles in both Rushmore and Tenenbaums.

Andrew Wilson, the third brother. he's been in a few films, including Charlie's Angels, Zoolander, Showtime, Serving Sara, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and The Big Bounce. You can see he's been in a few films with his brothers, there. In 2004 he'll be co-directing The Wendell Baker Story with his brother Luke (who also wrote the film with Owen). Should be interesting.

James Caan makes a memorable appearance in this film. I'm curious as to what drew him to the role. It's not a large role, but it's pretty interesting. He's a hardass in the film, with a sense of humor. Pretty interesting, especially since he hasn't been in any of Anderson's films post Bottle Rocket.

Robert D. Yeoman has been the DP for all of Anderson's films, including his newest film The Life Aquatic, coming out later this year with Bill Murray. Should be a great film. But he's also done some pretty great films outside of Anderson's. One of my favorites from the 1980's is Dead Heat, starring Treat Williams and Joe Piscapo. I know, I know, but it's actually a pretty cool movie! He shot Drugstore Cowboy for Gus Van Sant, Past Midnight, The Rainmaker, Permanent Midnight (for Stiller), Dogma, Down to You and CQ. He's got a great eye and must trust and get along with Anderson very well, because the two make an incredible team. The photography on Anderson's films is perfect.

Mark Mothersbaugh has been the composer on Anderson's films as well, but he's much more than that. As a composer, he's done some pretty cool films. Revenge of the Nerds II, It's Pat (ok, not so cool), Happy Gilmore, The Birdcage, Dead Man on Campus, The Rugrats Movie, 200 Cigarettes, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Mystery Men, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, Sugar & Spice, Sorority Boys, Welcome to Collinwood, Cheats, Thirteen, Good Boy!, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen... some pretty mainstream movies in there, and some ehhhh... but most important of all Mothersbaugh was the headliners for one of the most influential bands of the 1980's: Devo. He's an incredible musician, and his work on Anderson's movies is some of the most inventive I've heard in a long time. You can hear, in fact, some of Rushmore's soundtrack in this film.

Another important aspect of Anderson's movies is editing and, yet again, he stuck with the same guy who worked on Bottle Rocket for all of his films. Anderson is a loyal guy, I guess, and uses the people who he works with the best (and who do incredible work for him). David Moritz, this was his first feature that he edited himself. He would go on to edit The Evening Star, Jerry Maguire, Town & Country, The Affair of the Necklace, Knockaround Guys and Secondhand Lions. It's funny what happens to people with talent when first time directors take a chance on them.

I have a lot of respect for Anderson and Wilson as a writing team. They created some incredibly memorable characters. Anderson is a director with a vision, and has held that vision his last three films. I have nothing but high hopes for The Life Aquatic. I attribute Bill Murray's change in venue to Anderson, with Rushmore. You can see the kind of relationship that has been born since Rushmore. Murray has worked with him since, on Tenenbaum's, The Life Aquatic and The Squid and the Whale, a film being written and directed by Noah Baumbach. Baumbach helped write The Life Aquatic with Anderson, and Anderson is producing The Squid and the Whale... whew! Too much to write, I was getting a little confused there.

Talent follows talent, it seems. People who are comfortable with directors, producers, writers... they all seem to trust each other and follow each other. It seems like the perfect way to work, since Murray is giving incredible performances for Anderson.

Ok, so. This is a great movie. It's written wonderfully, acted beautifully, edited incredibly and perfectly shot and directed. Wow, that's a lot of compliments in one sentence, but I would say that this is one of my favorite directorial debuts I've ever seen.