When I first discovered Wes Anderson, I had no idea I had even discovered him at all. When I was a kid, my dad was obsessed with THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS and we would watch it again and again, despite the fact that he would often fall asleep after the first half hour. Nevertheless, I too became smitten with the film and it got to the point where I could almost follow along with each line of dialogue as if I was reading from a book. It had this distinct sense of style that was both modern and old-fashioned at the same time and the characters fit right in, each of them representing this idealistic nostalgia that seemed to have been pulled apart by the cold and uncaring arms of a harsh modern world. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before and I kept coming back to it because it was hilarious and, more than anything, I loved the characters. I think people are drawn to films like THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS because almost everyone considers their own family to be dysfunctional and it is both comforting and heartwarming to know that you're not alone and to be able to find humor in these familial struggles that we all seem to face at one time or another.
Here, in Part 1, we will be talking about BOTTLE ROCKET and RUSHMORE, the first two films to be written and directed by Wes Anderson. In Part 2, we will take a closer look at the aforementioned THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS and also THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU. We will then finish up with a discussion of THE DARJEELING LIMITED and FANTASTIC MR. FOX in Part 3. I was hoping to be able to talk a little bit about MOONRISE KINGDOM, his most recent film that opened in select theaters last Friday, but it isn't showing anywhere in my area. Oh, well.
Based upon a short film of the same name (also by directed by Anderson), BOTTLE ROCKET is an unusual little movie, especially when compared to the films that came afterwards. It was released in 1996 and, despite a fair amount of critical acclaim, was a box office failure, and part of that can be attributed to the fact that both Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson were considered unknowns at the time. Anthony (Luke Wilson) checks himself out of a mental hospital, where he had been self-admitted due to supposed exhaustion, at the behest of his best friend Dignan (Owen Wilson). Since being fired off from his landscaping job, Dignan has been working on an elaborate plan for them to pull off a heist that would impress Mr. Henry (James Caan), his former employer and a part-time criminal. Recruiting their slow-witted friend Bob (Robert Musgrave) as the getaway driver simply because he is the only one who owns a car, Anthony and Dignan rob a book store and decide to lay low for a while at a motel in the middle of nowhere. But Anthony, who up to this point has been willing to go along with Dignan and his plan, experiences a change of heart when he falls in love with the beautiful hotel maid Inez (Lumi Cavazos), much to the irritation of Dignan.
BOTTLE ROCKET was not at all what I had come to expect from Wes Anderson, although, as his first film, that is to be expected, since he might not have developed his signature style until later in his career. Regardless, there is a lot to like about BOTTLE ROCKET. One of the highlights of the films is to watch real-life brothers Luke and Owen Wilson work off of each other, with Luke playing the logical and reserved friend and Owen playing the intense and common sense-challenged firecracker. Their interactions provide much of the humor throughout and it is refreshing to see Luke in a lead role, since he seems to have been relegated to portraying small supporting characters as of late. With that said, I will admit that the movie seems somewhat insignificant when compared to some of Anderson's other more ambitious films and this seems to lack the polish and precision that he would become known for in the years to come. One thing I did appreciate about BOTTLE ROCKET was its use of the two lead characters to illustrate two contrasting ideologies of how to achieve success in life, with Dignan possessed by delusions of grandeur that he attempts to seize by carefully mapping out the next several decades of his life, while Anthony appears more inclined to sit back and let life come to him at its own pace, seemingly content with relishing the smaller day-to-day treasures of life and the overpowering love that he comes to feel for Inez.
I liked BOTTLE ROCKET and I think that, even if it pales in comparison to something like THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, it has its own merits, like the subtle humor throughout and the performances of the two Wilsons. Not the best of Wes Anderson, but still better than your average crime caper.
RUSHMORE is credited with putting Wes Anderson on the map, giving Jason Schwartzman his first and most memorable role, and reviving the career of Bill Murray as a serious actor. It circulated through various film festivals before receiving a limited release in New York and Los Angeles, where it was the recipient of much critical acclaim, but was a financial failure at the box office. Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is a scholarship student at Rushmore Academy who, despite being involved in over a dozen extra curricular activities, gives little to no effort in the classroom, with the headmaster even going so far as to deem him the worst student in the school. He spends his days writing and directing school plays, presiding over the various clubs in which he is the president or founding member, and telling people that his father is a neurosurgeon when, in truth, he is a barber. Harold Blume (Bill Murray), a bored and self-loathing local industrialist whose twin adolescent sons attend Rushmore, comes to admire Max for his unabashed confidence and zeal and strikes up an unlikely friendship with him. But their friendship is tested when both men develop feelings for Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams), a new school teacher at Rushmore, and the two of them engage in a childish game of one-upmanship in a desperate bid to win her affections.
I was taken aback when I first discovered that this marked the acting debut of Jason Schwartzman, because his performance as Max Fischer is not what you'd expect to see from an actor stepping in front of the camera for the first time. He imbues Max with a sort of cock-eyed innocence that makes him relatable and sympathetic, keeping the audience from resenting his self-assured and often times snot-nosed attitude that we all remember from the grade school brown noser way back when. Max is obsessed with how others perceive him and his desperate attempts to win the favor of those around him all seem to fall flat, with Rosemary in particular. He believes that he is in love with her, but has no idea what love is nor what it means to be in a relationship, because all he has to work from is the idealistic hyper-reality that exists solely in his head telling him what happiness looks like rather than what it feels like. He wants to be treated like an adult without having to do any actual growing up, which I think encapsulates the thinking of a lot of young adults and I applaud Anderson for being able to tap into that pubescent struggle. But none of this would have been as poignant if not for Bill Murray and his perfect portrayal of a man who has become disillusioned with life and longs to re-capture the enthusiasm that he sees in Max. Max has the ambition, Harold has the means, and together they each help the other reach a new understanding of life and love.
RUSHMORE represents Wes Anderson coming into his own and tapping into the unique style of storytelling that has defined him over the course of his career. This one of the most unusual tales of romance that you'll ever see, but one that more is interested in focusing on the struggles of being an adult and knowing what you want in life than whether or not the boy gets the girl.
Don't forget to come back for Part 2!
