Wes Anderson Debut Is a Surprising Heartfelt Story That Even Martin Scorsese Loved
Lost in your 20s? Join the club. We have a movie just about it — and it’s so brilliant that even Martin Scorsese rewatched it several times.
At times, it feels like our whole life is just crisis after crisis, with different flavors for each year. Being in my twenties right now, I'm deep in the quarter-life crisis. I guess that's what they call this confusion, anxiety, and wondering if you'll ever figure out what you're doing with your life.
If you're just like me and still trying to figure out what real “adulting” actually means, then I have a perfect movie for you. I watched it recently for the first time ever during my Wes Anderson marathon.
Bottle Rocket (1996): How About Planning a Heist or Two?
This is the first movie Wes Anderson has ever directed. And I don't know how, but it totally slipped through my fingers.
The story follows three friends (including a young Owen Wilson in his first role) who got a little bit lost in life. Though their great plan to shake things up is not your usual get-together with some friends. They decide that their ticket out of existential dread is, wait for it, becoming criminals.
These three decide to plan a heist. But the crazier thing is that they actually follow through and rob none other than a local bookstore.
The whole thing is as hilariously amateur as it sounds. And I think that's exactly what makes it so relatable.
Bottle Rocket Is the First Anderson Movie & It Is Martin Scorsese- Approved
I've already mentioned that Bottle Rocket is the first movie of Anderson. And while it doesn't have that visual style yet (you know what I’m talking about), it has the most important component–heart.
Bottle Rocket explores the underlying search for meaning. Our protagonists are not bad guys. Not at all. They're just trying to figure out what it means to truly live. And they are desperately looking for something, anything to shake up their life. While most of us probably won't turn to amateur crime (hopefully) we can totally relate to that restless energy and desire to do something dramatic just to feel alive.
Martin Scorsese praised the movie in his Esquire article, writing:
“Wes Anderson, at age thirty, has a very special kind of talent: He knows how to convey the simple joys and interactions between people so well and with such richness. I've found myself going back and watching Bottle Rocket several times.”
Getting Martin Scorsese's praise for your first movie? Now that's a way to make a debut.
So if you're feeling lost, Bottle Rocket is available on Fandango at Home, Amazon Video and Apple TV+.
