Bottle Rocket

Name: Bottle Rocket
Genre: Crime, Comedy
Released: 1994-01-21
Duration: 14 min
Rating: 3.25
Cast: Isiah Ellis, Elissa Sommerfield, Temple Nash, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson

They're not criminals, but everybody's got to have a dream.

Rating

3.3 (2)

Release Date

1/21/1994

Runtime

14 mins

Genres

Crime Comedy

Overview

Dysfunctional friends Dignan and Anthony plan and execute a robbery with their pot-growing friend, Bob. The short film that inspired Wes Anderson’s feature debut.

Status

Released

Original Language

English

Budget

Revenue

Homepage

How It Feels

Read from this film's synopsis, keywords and credits, and used to work out what it sits beside.

A scrappy, deadpan sketch of three aimless friends bumbling through a crime that exposes the gap between their dreams and their reality. It moves with the playful precision that would define Anderson's later work, finding humor and pathos in their doomed aspiration.

Mood

WhimsicalAbsurdBittersweet

Themes

FriendshipAmbitionComing apart

Tone

Comedic

Pacing

Steady

Look

Stylized genreHandheld

Structure

Linear

Owen Wilson

Dignan

Luke Wilson

Anthony

Robert Musgrave

Bob Hanson

Elissa Sommerfield

Waitress at Diner

Isiah Ellis

Man on Street

Temple Nash

Self

Briggs Branning

Man at Golfs

Reviews

nicolascagegoons

Aug 27, 2026

Its interesting to see where film makers began and while wes andersons short version of bottle rocket is not amazing, it laid the foundation for his debute feature film which is cool to see.
(Also watch my newest film
https://youtu.be/9RrlyH2CioY?si=lw8PRTgmxun__sgi
shadows scare me on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/VbxI )