Posted by sean at threshold7n.jpmorgan.com on July 09, 2002 at 16:06:46:
In Reply to: You *hate* bottle rocket?? posted by Drewman on July 09, 2002 at 11:08:56:
: That's certainly the first time I've heard anyone say that.
The only thing I like about that movie is Luke Wilson, who I think is a terrible actor whenever anybody who isn't Wes Anderson uses him. And the thing I disliked most about it was Owen Wilson, whom I love unconditionally and in everything except for that and Royal Tenenbaums. (He's not bad in RT, I just don't think he fits the movie and I think cutting his character would've allowed some of the others room to breathe a bit.)
But, yeah, "Bottle Rocket" obviously suffered from all the problems that it was suffering from (two writers who had no idea how to write a movie and had to go through numerous re-shoots, a director pompous enough to make it significantly more than two hours in his first cut, etc.). The jump from that to "Rushmore" is probably even bigger than the jump from "Rushmore" to "Royal Tenenbaums". And I'm not even a huge "Rushmore" fan, I think it's a great script that, despite great performances, is only a good movie, and I think the fault for that lies square on Anderson's directorial shoulders.
That said, "Royal Tenenbaums" is amazing.