Every Wes Anderson Film Ranked Worst To Best

Bottle Rocket ironically feels like someone trying to imitate Wes Anderson’s style and falling slightly short of the mark. His directorial voice hasn’t been nailed down yet in his debut feature, which leads to a fun but messy final product.

The story, following friends Anthony and Dignan as they bungle their way through several heists in their efforts to strike it rich, is stuffed full of Anderson’s deadpan sense of humour. The final heist sequence, in which everything goes wrong thanks to each member of the gang’s ineptitude, is genuinely hilarious and among the director’s best comedic scenes.

The love story between Anthony and Inez, a hotel maid, is also quite sweet as they work hard to overcome their language barrier for love.

The main thing that really lets the movie down somewhat is its unpolished nature. It’s quite clearly attempting to skirt by on its snappy dialogue and eccentric characters, and it very nearly gets away with it.

If Anderson released this now, it would be seen as a step back. But as a first step, it’s clear that he’s shown great promise from day one.