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Title: Bottle Rocket (1996)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Luke Wilson | ... | Anthony Adams | |
| Owen Wilson | ... | Dignan (as Owen C. Wilson) | |
| Ned Dowd | ... | Dr. Nichols | |
 |
Shea Fowler | ... | Grace |
| Haley Miller | ... | Bernice | |
| Robert Musgrave | ... | Bob Mapplethorpe | |
| Andrew Wilson | ... | Future Man | |
|
|
Brian Tenenbaum | ... | H. Clay Murchison |
| Jenni Tooley | ... | Stacy Sinclair | |
|
|
Temple Nash | ... | Temple |
|
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Dipak Pallana | ... | Bookstore Employee |
| Darryl Cox | ... | Bookstore Manager | |
| Stephen Dignan | ... | Rob | |
| Lumi Cavazos | ... | Inez | |
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Julie Mayfield | ... | Wife in Motelroom |
Upon his release from a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown, the directionless Anthony joins his friend Dignan, who seems far less sane than the former. Dignan has hatched a hare-brained scheme for an as-yet-unspecified crime spree that somehow involves his former boss, the (supposedly) legendary Mr. Henry. With the help of their pathetic neighbor and pal Bob, Anthony and Dignan pull a job and hit the road, where Anthony finds love with motel maid Inez. When our boys finally hook up with Mr. Henry, the ensuing escapade turns out to be far from what anyone expected. Written by Marty Cassady <martyc@bev.net>
The drifting, meaningless "hang-out" nature of this quirky, engaging crime/road/comedy flick is often fun and entertaining, and often far too meandering for its own good. Ultimately, what "Bottle Rocket" is about is confusion in both path and purpose, and this is clearly reflected in the spontaneity and energy of its central characters, their actions and their interactions. The film is perhaps overly reliant on its everyday dialogue and naturalistic, if not observably detached, relationships that give the film a documentary-like tone that perhaps doesn't work as an environment for typically Anderson-esque characters to inhabit. But this is Wes Anderson before Wes Anderson, which should be considered. As a debut feature, it's pretty darn good. Another potential problem is that the characters don't necessarily undergo any explicit character development over the course of the plot, but this isn't an overly serious issue as the stance can be taken that the whole point is that they don't learn and must continue to drift; on top of this, the greatest part of this otherwise average film is the fact that the characters don't actually need development, they are engaging and interesting enough to keep us hooked for a full 80 minutes with their dreams and moral callousness.