Bottle Rocket

Three friends decide to pull off a robbery, and none of them are criminals. The plan is written out in a notebook, item by item, and not one item works. It began as a thirteen-minute black-and-white short shot in 1992. The short played Sundance in 1993, where James L. Brooks saw it and agreed to finance a feature version. It is Wes Anderson's first feature and the acting debut of Owen and Luke Wilson, with their older brother Andrew also appearing. Sony gave it a limited release on 21 February 1996 and it collapsed, taking 560,069 dollars against a 5 million budget. The result hit hard enough that Owen Wilson said he considered joining the Marines. Its strongest defender turned out to be Martin Scorsese, who called it one of his favourite films of the nineties and praised how well Anderson conveys the simple joys and interactions between people. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 86 percent. Who it is for: anyone curious about Anderson before the symmetry took over, looser and warmer. Who it is not for: viewers who want plot. The film is aimless on purpose and some stretches really are empty.