Sunday, August 31, 2008

Bottle Rocket (1996)



It's hard to say whether Bottle Rocket is as strong a film as Rushmore, but I love them both and they are the only two Wes Anderson movies that I've ever cared to watch more than once. This will probably always be my favorite performance by either of the Wilson brothers. I wasn't surprised to read that the film had the lowest test scores in Columbia Pictures history when it was first screened, because the humor in it is anything but mainstream. It's that kind of goofy loser humor, but these guys are also depressed and a little dangerous. Anthony (Luke) explains why he had to spend time in a mental asylum before joining Dignan's (Owen's) team of amateur criminals:

One morning, over at Elizabeth's beach house, she asked me if I'd rather go water-skiing or lay out. And I realized that not only did I not want to answer THAT question, but I never wanted to answer another water-sports question, or see any of these people again for the rest of my life.

That cracks me up every time. But for some people it just doesn't do very much, which is fine because I like my favorite cult classics to stay offbeat and cultish.
IMDB

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