Perhaps in order to best appreciate Wes Anderson, it would be wise to circle back to the very beginning. Back in 1996, before the man had honed his recognizable style, before Luke or Owen Wilson had ever appeared in anything else, Bottle Rocket launched the careers of all three. The movie and the lead performances had an amateurish feel to them which I actually kind of appreciated. The three Wes Anderson movies I've seen from the 2000s were precariously shot and impeccably polished, so it was a nice change of pace to see something just a little raw from the guy.
As far as the movie itself goes, it was pretty standard stuff - which made it quite different form anything else I've sen Wes Anderson do, of course. Two friends - Luke Wilson the straight man of sorts, and Owen Wilson the wacky wild card - go off on a spree of small time robberies and heists for no readily apparent reason. Luke falls in love with a hotel cleaning lady and Owen gets in a bit over his head on his "75-year plan." There's not much else to say, and this really wasn't a very unique movie at all. But it was simple and fun all the same, and perhaps more importantly it was a Wes Anderson movie that felt nothing at all like a Wes Anderson movie.
I swear though, I don't dislike Wes Anderson movies. Hell, I liked The Life Aquatic, widely considered the most offensively "Wes Anderson" movie Wes Anderson has ever made.
Wes Anderson.
As you can probably guess, I fucking hated The Life Aquatic. Ryan convinced my whole family to go see it in one of our last family movie outings ever. I don't think my dad has ever forgiven him.
ReplyDeleteHahaha... I remember falling asleep to The Life Aquatic while watching it at Greg's house one night. Anderson's films are cute and innocent, yet are put together with methodical precision. Always interesting, but aside from Tenenbaums, I've never been a huge fan. Never seen Bottle Rocket, though. Your review here might encourage me to give it a go soon.
ReplyDeleteThe first film I ever saw of his was Rushmore... back when it was in theaters (1998)! Looking back, I have no idea how they sold a ticket to a 12-year-old for this film. Then again, I think this was when the Lowell theater had just opened. But about the film, I'm pretty sure it was well over my simple, young head. This might have scarred my appreciation for Anderson's work there on out. Sad because I love Bill Murray.