Bottle Rocket

Wes Anderson was Wes Anderson before he was Wes Anderson.  None of this "you can see the artist emerging" crap.  He appears fully formed.

The movie doesn't get much respect, despite being beautiful and launching the careers of Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson, and Luke Wilson, and teeing up Lumi Cavazos for Like Water for Chocolate:

• Ranker has it #8 out of Wes Anderson's films.
• IndieWire has it #9.
• Taste of Cinema has it #8.

Here are the Wilson brothers at the 2006 Academy Awards:

Owen - Our first project together was a 13-minute short called Bottle Rocket.  We're incredibly proud of the fact that later on we got five million to expand it into a feature film that grossed almost one million dollars.  

Luke - And that was one million back in 1996, before inflation.

Even if you like it, it's hard not to damn it with faint praise.  Our resident film critic calls it a "solid little movie."  The first word that came to mind for me was "diverting."

Well, bullshit on that.  It is very very good.  Not because of what they all did later, but because if this came on TV right now and you watched it for the first time you'd have some laughs but also be asking yourself what are these guys up to (both the characters and the creators)? And feeling wistful, and admiring the performances and the cinematography.

This is a beautiful, human movie, and it's a kick.  Enjoyed viewing. Would watch again.  Two thumbs up.

Collider did a nice piece on the 20th anniversary of the film in 2016 (here).

Criterion Collection DVD available here.