Bottle Rocket (1996)★ 7.0/10

Welcome to the Wilsons! This is the first Wes Anderson film, but it really belongs to Luke and Owen Wilson as pals whose lives are so dull that they are compelled to rob a bookstore and attempt to impress a local gangster played by...James Caan (I'm still trying to figure out how he got involved with this one). There is the budding romance of young love for Anthony (Luke) and a lovely chambermaid, Inez (Lumi Cavazos, whom you might recognize from 'Like Water for Chocolate'); there is the stupidity of Dignan (Owen) breaking his friend out of a situation that did not require his help. And there are guns, trucks, jumpsuits, bottle rockets, plans run awry, and an ending that is touchingly sweet and expected.
Enjoy!

Though this debut is raw and a bit unpolished, the signature Wes Anderson sensibility is already here—in the stylised framing, breezy soundtrack, vivid color palette, meticulous details, omnipresent humor, and above all, an affectionate embrace of life, art, and the better sides of human nature.

At first, these three characters feel like troublemakers chasing thrills for no reason, trading a safe life for risky misadventures and even jail time. Yet, their rebellion against mediocrity makes certain sense when seen in the context of a lost middle-class generation.

Quase gabaritando a filmografia do Wes, e bom, gosto dessa fase dele bem comecinho de carreira, a peculiaridade de seus personagens é algo bem legal de pontuar, uma pena que com o tempo ele foi ficando cada vez mais plastico, até mesmo superficial.