I had been beating my head in for the past four days trying to figure out how I was going to lead off this week. I try to have something of substance for you guys to read and not just a bunch of Variety and Hollywood Reporter regurgitations that you can read on any ol’ site. I mean, really, what does me writing someone else’s story do for you that someone else can’t do? So, as the clock struck 10 PM Pacific Time on Sunday night I was still left empty. Then Variety and Hollywood Reporter didn’t have shit for news. There was only one option…
…watch Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket.
Son of a bitch, I didn’t want to do it. I have seen Rushmore, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and about 30 minutes of The Royal Tenenbaums. Hotel Chevalier was a short so I don’t really think it counts, but I saw that one too, and out of that bunch I didn’t like Rushmore and obviously seeing how I only watched about 30 minutes of Tenenbaums I didn’t really like that one either. Life Aquatic wasn’t awful, but the best way to describe my reaction to that one is to say I was able to stomach it. Overall, I am just not a Wes Anderson fan. I get his humor, but it just isn’t for me just as David O. Russell’s I Heart Huckabees isn’t for me. So I hope you can understand why I was hesitant to ever watch this film.
Back in March I did a Top Ten Heist Films list and I hadn’t seen Bottle Rocket, but this dysfunctional feature certainly would make my top five and bump Pierce Brosnan’s Thomas Crown Affair out of the top ten. It’s almost impossible to know where to even begin.
Considering this was both Owen and Luke Wilson’s feature film debut it is hard to believe that they both turn in their absolute best performances of their careers. Neither of them has really changed their acting styles (only their haircuts) since this film, but this is a case where I think Owen, Luke and Wes all hit the ground running. Overall this film beats Wedding Crashers for Owen and is better than any of the Wes Anderson films I have seen (only missing The Darjeeling Limited). My favorite film of Luke’s to this point would have probably been the 2007 thriller Vacancy but that film doesn’t compare to this one in terms of Luke’s ability to act and as a movie overall. There are subtleties to Bottle Rocket that make it far better. This is a film you could quote lines from with other fans and enjoy your own personal inside joke as you will probably be the only people in the room that have seen it.
The film begins with Anthony (Luke Wilson) checking out of a mental hospital. Waiting outside for him is his best friend Dignan (Owen Wilson). What Dignan doesn’t know is that Anthony checked himself in voluntarily, so to satisfy Dignan’s lust for thrills Anthony talks his doc into letting him scale the wall from his window and run off, and the life of “crime” for the two begin. The move and Dignan’s actions to follow won’t ever have you wondering which one of them should have actually been in the hospital.
Now that he is out, Anthony may have his head on straight, but in terms of life goals he falls into the hands of Dignan, the man with the plan. Dignan’s goals include a life of crime ultimately resulting in a major heist involving his former boss Mr. Henry (James Caan), owner of The Lawn Wranglers. Along with thier friend Bob (Robert Musgrave), also known as the only one with a car, they pull-off their first job and head for the hills. On the run they find themselves at a motel in the middle of nowhere, which is where Anthony falls in love with a housekeeper named Inez, Bob finds out his marijuana farm back home has landed his brother in jail and Dignan only wants to continue running, upholding their “secret identities”.
That’s your set up and it is at that moment that one scene and three quotes turn the entire movie into something special.
When Bob tells Dignan his brother has been charged with being a drug dealer Dignan tells him how that just can’t be possible because…
At the same time Anthony has been helping Inez turndown the rooms back at the motel all day and are just finishing up…
That night Bob wants to leave to go help his brother, but they talk him into staying for 48 hours and waiting to see what happens. The next morning…
It was this sequence of events that hits just around the 34 minute mark that grabbed my attention. The rest is just as good and hopefully the IMDb posters don’t mind if I steal a few of the things we learned from Bottle Rocket, a thread that will have any fan of this film cracking up:
- Dignan looks like a little banana.
- The Lawn Wranglers is landscaping not just mowing.
- Bob’s grand piano must have been worth 10 grand.
- Dignan doesn’t hold any grudges against those guys.
- Kumar has lost his touch, but he may have never had a touch to lose.
- Bob is the zero out in the car.
Of course if you haven’t seen the film the six things listed above mean absolutely nothing and you think I am idiot. Hell, you may even think that anyway, but I think this is a great way to approach this film (it may be a great way to approach any film for that matter). Bottle Rocket‘s humor is extremely subtle. The moment when Dignan says, “Bob is the zero out in the car,” it is absolutely hilarious and it happens just before the scene cuts. Classic stuff, read the entire thread here.
I have recently been in a fog when it comes to comedy. All of the new Judd Apatow films are nothing more than potty humor to me. Saying the word “fuck” a ton of times and showing a man’s dick isn’t humor to me. Having a fat kid yell obscenities at his skinny friends with low self esteem isn’t funny to me. I did think In Bruges was a classic comedy, but outside of that I probably laughed at Al Pacino’s 88 Minutes more than I laughed at the majority of comedies over the past three years.
However, as Bottle Rocket continues to play in the background I realize I could quote this movie all night. Fans would find what I wrote hilarious, but until you see it you won’t be in on the joke.
Subtlety never translates well in print and maybe this article won’t encourage anyone to watch this film, and maybe I have built it up too much. But if it means that just one person will watch Bottle Rocket instead of “American Idol”, “The Bachelor” or “Flavor of Love” (or is it “Flava”?) then I will be happy.
Oh, and for those waiting for the Criterion edition it is coming this October on both DVD and Blu-ray. On top of that, always remember, “Dignan is not always as confident as he looks.” Oh, and take the time in school to learn a foreign language.
