Bottle Rocket (1996)

Having seen all of Wes Anderson most recent films, and having adored every single one of them, I decided to check out the rest of his filmography, starting with Bottle Rocket, his debut.

The film follows a group of friends who decides to rebel against the norms of everyday life to pursue a career of professional criminals. After Dignan (Owen Wilson) rescues Anthony (Luke Wilson) from a voluntary mental hospital, they convince their friend Bob (Robert Musgrave), who has a car, to join them and rob a library. After successfully pulling off the heist, they hide out in a roadside motel where the group of friends eventually breaks down and things take a turn for each one of them.

The plot doesn't have a lot of substance --actually, it's so thin I'm not even sure it's got a point-- and it's a little all over the place, but, as the story unfolded, I was immediately hooked and I could not take my eyes off the screen. I even loved the clichéd, slow and yet rushed romantic subplot involving Anthony and a non-English speaking Mexican maid (Lumi Cavazos) that doesn't go absolutely anywhere.

It's okay though as Bottle Rocket is actually a character study. Just like any other Anderson movie, the film has quirky and dysfunctional characters. They are deep but not complex, they are simple me with simple desires, three men who are just trying to live out their dream. They are unbelievable and believable at the same time; they are three losers but they are so charming and interesting you can't help but love them.

It also helps to have actors who perform very well, and Bottle Rocket has them. Both Luke and Owen Wilson give extraordinary and inspired performances, the first as Anthony, an honest, innocent but not naive man who is searching for himself, the latter as Dignan, a confident wannabe master thief. And the chemistry between the two of them, oh man, it is on fire!

Columbia Pictures

The film also includes strong performances from James Caan as Mr Henry, Dignan's former boss at a landscaping company as well as the leader of a gang of master-thieves, and Lumi Cavazos as Inez, the maid Anthony fall in love with --she is so lovely and has such a nice chemistry with Luke Wilson, you get really sucked into the romance. The standout, however, is Robert Musgrave as Bob, a depressed and quite pathetic rich kid.

At last but not least, the humour. It is so subtle and ironic. I'm pretty sure I missed some of it --not a problem though as I'm planning to rewatch this as soon as I've seen the rest of Anderson's filmography-- and yet it was incredibly hilarious. At times I found myself laughing and I didn't even know why.

Oh, shoot, I almost forgot to mention the cinematography. It is sometimes amateurish and far from the beauty of Anderson's later work, but it's still charming and adds to the story.

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

There's still plenty of time since Isle of Dogs hits theatres here (May 17 unless they decide to postpone it for some dumb reason) so I decided to take advantage of this time to watch the Wes Anderson movies I haven't seen yet. The Darjeeling Limited was one of them and it was also the one that had been on my watchlist for at least 10 years (I added to my list because of Natalie Portman but I'm so glad that at the end I didn't watch the movie for her because it would have been a major disappointment since she's barely in the movie). 

A year after the accidental death of their father, three brothers, Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman), meet on a train, the Darjeeling Limited, and embark on a journey across India in an attempt to bond with each other. But Francis has something else in mind, visiting their mother (Anjelica Huston) who didn't even show up at their father's funeral. 

It's the typical Wes Anderson story about a dysfunctional family. There's the estranged brothers, the daddy issues, and the shitty parents, basically, who fucked them up. And there isn't much of a plot either, just a lot of things happening that don't really make a story. Also, it unfolds slowly (I totally see why someone may not like this).

And yet, the journey both physical but mostly spiritual of these three brothers is so fascinating, it kept me glued to the screen as if I was watching a thriller. The Darjeeling Limited is about letting things go, leaving the baggage behind --and these three have a lot of them, both literal and figurative ones. 

And it's also very fun to watch. Their journey does not go as planned, of course, and the brothers are forced to cope with many difficult situations --like a poisonous cobra on the loose on the train-- and things get pretty hilarious. The humour is dry and quick, and most jokes rely on characters' traits, but they work. 

Fox Searchlight Pictures

The characters are just as fascinating as the journey. Though Peter and Jack don't have a reason to join the journey in the first place --they complain as if they were forced to do this-- they are quirky and interesting, very flawed and yet likeable, but most important they feel real. And the relationship between them --or siblings in general-- is depicted very well. 

Of course, the actors playing them are important as well. Adrien Brody was the standout for me. His character, Peter, is the one with a wider emotional range, and Brody does a great job delivering that, and some good slapstick too. He also has a beautiful chemistry with Owen Wilson which makes their scenes very enjoyable. Jason Schwartzman is a bit weak though. He just doesn't seem to be able to come out of the shadow of the other two. Anjelica Huston does good as the runaway mother and there's a nice Bill Murray cameo too at the beginning. 

At last, The Darjeeling Limited has some pretty striking visuals --fantastic cinematography, surrealistic colours, beautiful composition, gorgeous and interesting locations-- and a great soundtrack that fits the story very well.