Hacker Cinema
Bottle Rocket
1996 · Film · 91 min
Directed by Wes Anderson
Upon his release from a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown, the directionless Anthony joins his friend Dignan, who seems far less sane than the former. Dignan has hatched a harebrained scheme for an as-yet-unspecified crime spree that somehow involves his former boss, the (supposedly) legendary Mr. Henry.
3 positive2 neutralfrom 5 commenters
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5 comments on Hacker News
Bottle Rocket is a charming film
Rushmore was my favorite of his films until the release of Moonrise Kingdom.
Fun fact: Rushmore was shot in an era without social media. All my film nerd pals were aware of Anderson after Bottle Rocket, and were tacitly awaiting his next film, but its ultimate arrival was a surprise. Even MORE surprising (at least for us) was that it was shot right here in Houston -- recognizably, obviously Houston. (I'm sure the St John's community was aware... )
Its release also solved a puzzle for my friend E. and I dating from the winter of 97-98. We'd stopped for sushi at a middling but reasonably priced joint between our rental house the bar we were headed to, and after posting up at the corner of the sushi counter and ordering a bit, we noticed the guy at the far end of the bar. He had a sort of admiring entourage with him of 2-3 younger folks.
The guy looked familiar, but we couldn't place him. Finally:
"Wow, that guy looks like Bill Murray."
"Yeah, he really does, doesn't he?"
"I think that might actually BE Bill Murray."
"What the hell is he doing in Houston?"
"No idea. Is there a tournament at the River Oaks club?"
We ate. We left. We forgot about seeing him -- until we saw Rushmore the following fall.
(In the unlikely event someone reading this knows Houston: this was at the Miyako that used to be just north of 59 on the west side of Kirby, so close to River Oaks.)
Right, one of the many great things about Rushmore is that it is a mix of these. It's amazingly polished for someone's second movie. Like, that aspect of it shocks me every time I watch it. But it also still has a lot of that raw soul that Bottle Rocket does.
Bottle Rocket is at the bottom for you? I find it charming, but I do have an affinity for first films/albums/novels.
It would be hubris to think I would be any good at crime. Basically sounds like a higher stakes version of the movie Bottle Rocket.