How sad is this?

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

If you've come of age in the 21st century, then you know Wes Anderson as one of the most important indie directors. His oeuvre (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel) features quirky characters, scenes with centered action, and generally unusual plots. And he tends to cast Bill Murray in supporting roles.His debut, 1996's "Bottle Rocket", is a little different. Bill Murray is absent. There are a few scenes with centered action, but the emphasis is certainly on the characters and plot. Owen and Luke Wilson play friends who plan a series of heists. I found the best part of the movie to be the whole sequence in the motel; the heists themselves came across as secondary to the events in the motel.So, while it doesn't give that much of a hint of Anderson's later movies, "Bottle Rocket" is still an enjoyable one. James Caan's character struck me as an allusion to his most famous one. And Kumar Pallana accomplished something practically unheard of: he debuted in cinema when he was pushing eighty."Tell him I love him." Ha!

As much as I adore a majority of Wes Anderson's work, it is tricky to jump into Bottle Rocket if you've seen much of his oeuvre beforehand (especially his more frenetic works that currently hit an apex at Grand Budapest Hotel). If this is your first Wes Anderson film, it's certainly a good start. If you've seen Rushmore, Tenenbaums, or even Life Aquatic beforehand, it's certainly fine, as in those films Anderson's style he is known for today hasn't quite evolved as it is now. If you're hot of the heels from Budapest Hotel, though, you may want to proceed with caution, as it is almost the polar opposite in terms of style and pacing. Maybe if I give it another shot, I'll appreciate it more, but for now Bottle Rocket stands a as a firm 4 for me.

Bottle Rocket is a mid-1990s indie film about a few quirky, mostly directionless 20 year old men who end up in a caper involving residential lawn care.This was the first film made by the assuredly brilliant, eminently (by now) accomplished Wes Anderson. Viewers expecting the same bottled madcap magic Anderson would later deliver in Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums, and The Life Aquatic [ . . .] will not find much here.Anderson critics building their cases against disappointments like The Darjeeling Limited will find in this film the seeds of the auteur's excesses sometimes getting the better of his projects. Combining the talents of Owen Wilson and James Caan with some (much) lesser lights, the film is amply kitted out with dynamic actors. But those actors are not given much of a story to tell. Rather, the film unfolds almost as if Anderson was out to prove he could make a film that doesn't try to do storytelling. And for the record, is this a comedy we are watching, or a Somerset Maugham homage, an existential commentary we should wanly smile at and droll along with?

Rookie Director Wes Anderson Delivers a Deadpan, Dead On Arrival Movie that Fizzled at the Box Office and took Critics by Surprise. It was so Laid-Back in its Slackerness that it Suffered to make a Blip on the Radar of the Intelligentsia and Bored Casual Moviegoers to Death. Anderson is an Acquired Taste if He becomes Tasty at all. To this Day His Against the Grain Films are Talked About Intensely and Loved and Hated with Equal Enthusiasm. But in Retrospect it's Hard to Ignore a Film that Martin Scorsese called "One of the best Films of the Nineties".But Mostly Ignored it was and its Lukewarm at Best Receivership did Little to Boost the Confidence of Writer/Star Owen Wilson. But He and the Director Soldiered On because they were both Obviously Full of Self-Confidence Concerning Their Offbeat Vision of Film Comedy.This Movie is about as Inoffensive as Any Modern Comedy and it is with that Refreshing Style where it Makes its Mark. It is a Film that is Thinking all the time and Plays Out Typical Movie Stuff like Quirky Romances (that need an interpreter) and Street Level Criminals that Really should Find Another Line of Work.This is a Soft Heist Film and the Charm is in the Realness of its Characters and Their Unpretentious Take on Life. A Gaudy Jump Suit may be a Subconscious Wish Fulfillment for Dignan and He Brings His Friends Along with His Energetic Naivete. Note...If you have never seen a Wes Anderson Movie and wonder what all the fuss is about, its best to not start here. He is one of those Auteurs where it might be better to watch His Films in reverse chronological order. Makes perfect upside-down sense really.