bottle rocket (1996)

wes anderson's debut feature is being released as part of the prestigious criterion collection at the end of this month, joining the rest of his body of work (with the exception of 'the darjeeling limited'). my copy arrived early, and while i havent had a look at the extras yet i did watch the film tonight. having seen the film countless times it was hardly a new experience, but i had consciously made an effort to not watch 'bottle rocket' since first first hearing about the criterion release over a year ago, so there was a freshness to the film that i hadnt felt in a long time.

im not sure for definite, but i think that 'bottle rocket' may now be my favourite wes anderson film. as character is one of anderson's key strong point (as mentioned by martin scorsese in a text introduction to the film) its hardly a revelation for me to express how strongly i feel the characters are in the film, yet i feel compelled to. an indication of just how strongly the characters of dignan (owen wilson, who also co-wrote the flick), anthony (luke wilson), bob (robert musgrave) and inez (lumi cavazos) effected me my immediately thoughts after the film turned to a thought not often deliberated by myself; why doesnt wes anderson make a sequel to 'bottle rocket'?

dont get me wrong, im not a huge fan of sequel's, generally viewing them as soulless cash-in's, but i feel like 'bottle rocket' could genuinely benefit from a real-time based sequel. while i balk at the mere thought of a sequel to "rushmore" (1997) and cant think of anything more unnecessary than a 'the royal tenenbaums' follow-up, i genuinely would like to know what befated dignan post-prison, and how the relationship between anthony and inez panned out (in my heart of hearts i know that theyve settled down and have a bunch of kids running around, attempting 'adventures' of sorts. perhaps even "uncle" dignan would figure, a second generation bad influence... o'how one can dream).

stylistically the film is surprisingly well-developed in terms of anderson's look, especially considering it was his debut picture and so technically he couldnt have actually developed a style per-se. regardless of pedant, the film looks wonderful and really displays anderson's unique outlook on film.