Weekly Pick: ‘Bottle Rocket’ is a Gem

Assuming you all have your “holiday go-to” film faves, I’ve decided to wait one more week before making an actual Christmas movie, the weekly pick.

Sometimes, it’s fun to look back on an incredibly successful director or actors when they were in the beginning stages of a career. Today, we take a trip back to 1996 to revisit the film “Bottle Rocket,” a movie that a surprising amount of people haven’t seen or heard of, but one worthy of a mention. 

The director, Wes Anderson, and his two lead actors, Owen and Luke Wilson, were all friends who put their heads together and came up with a gem of an indie comedy. Anderson and Owen Wilson shot the film initially as a short that was seen by a family friend and producer. Money was raised, a feature film was shot and the careers of Anderson, Wilson and Wilson took off. 

“Bottle Rocket” is the story of Dignon, played by Owen Wilson and his friend Anthony, played by Luke and their friend Bob, all of whom are captivated by the idea of pulling a heist. Dignan, a sweet goof, somewhat delusional and the leader of this makeshift gang has an innocent childlike charisma. Anthony struggles with mental health and tends to go along with Dignon to be a good friend. Bob is the rich kid with the car and every gang needs a wheelman.

Their first robbery is a bookstore in a strip mall, not exactly a cash cow. The robbery is hilarious but the scene where they plan the heist is brilliant too as they are all fixated by their newly purchased firearm and end up having a big argument that almost breaks up the gang. The trio escape after their first robbery with maybe a couple hundred bucks and in the words of Dignan, “Go on the run from Johnny Law!” The trio hole up in a motel room loving life on the lam, until they wake up to find their wheelman, Bob ditched them to bail out his brother after he was caught with marijuana. 

The film has a great cameo from James Caan, as an older thief who scams our heroes. “Bottle Rocket” teems with charm throughout and is full of character based comedy that emerges organically from a really good script, which was co-written by Anderson and Owen Wilson, solid acting and remarkable directing for a first time feature filmmaker.

Wes Anderson now has a long list of credits and more than a cult following. He followed Bottle Rocket up with the brilliant “Rushmore.” Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson are now A list box office draws while still appearing in their friend Anderson’s films, periodically.

Anderson, won an Oscar in 2023 for his short film “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.” Maybe he will turn that into a feature film as well? It worked out quite well for him with Bottle Rocket which is this week’s classic movie pick of the week. 

Editor’s note: For more movie and entertainment talk, join Pete Schwaba weeknights from 6 p.m. to 8 p .m. for “Nite Lite” on the Civic Media radio network.