Bottle Rocket (1994)

The banality of crime. Two young men, Dignan and Anthony, walk along talking about "Starsky and Hutch." They're on their way to burglarize a house. After, they go to a café, play some ... See full summary »

Director:

Wes Anderson

Writers:

Owen Wilson (screenplay), Wes Anderson (screenplay)

Stars:

Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Robert Musgrave

Cast

Credited cast:
Owen Wilson	...	Dignan
Luke Wilson	...	Anthony
Robert Musgrave	...	Bob Hanson
Elissa Sommerfield	...	Waitress at Diner
Isiah Ellis	...	Man on Street
Temple Nash	...	Temple
Briggs Branning	...	Man at Golfs (as Col. Briggs Branning)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Antonia Bogdanovich	...	Girl at mental hospital

Storyline

The banality of crime. Two young men, Dignan and Anthony, walk along talking about "Starsky and Hutch." They're on their way to burglarize a house. After, they go to a café, play some pinball. They argue about the burglary and talk to their friend Bob about another scheme. They talk to a guy about buying a gun, just to intimidate. Anthony breaks into a car to steal a wallet. With Bob, they plan and stage a holdup and talk about it afterward at a burger stand: armed robbery for $183. They're pleased. The two pals race each other.

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Plot Keywords:

pistol | target practice | robbery | thief | bookstore

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Taglines:

They're not criminals, but everybody's got to have a dream.

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Genres:

Short | Comedy | Crime

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1994 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

13 min

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The short film was originally set to feature established actors but because of the low budget, the main characters were given to brothers Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson, who had never been in a movie before.

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Connections

References A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

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Soundtracks

"Stevie"
Written by Duke Ellington
Performed Duke Ellington and John Coltrane

User Reviews

Worth seeing if you also see the 1996 version as well.

Wes Anderson's first film was this short film which he co-wrote with Owen Wilson. It was also Owen's first film as well as his brother, Luke's, first film. Apparently the reaction to this short was positive, as only two years later a full-length version was made and all three have gone on to exceptional careers since.

The short is really not a complete film--more like a snippet to show potential investors the type film it could become. And, you have many of the story elements you'll see in the later film--as well as a meandering style which both films possess. However, due to costs, the short is only about 13 minutes long, is in black & white and uses inappropriate music (such as a cheap sax piece as well as Vince Guaraldi's song from "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown"!). This isn't really a complaint--just an observation about the cost-cutting done to create this little film.

It's really very hard to rate this, as I mentioned it is quite incomplete. My advice is see it and then see the full-length version--otherwise you might not appreciate the short.