B Movies and Couch Classics: Bottle Rocket • Taxi Driver

B-Movies and Couch Classics

By Dan Dumbald / Movie Merchants

BOTTLE ROCKET

Since writer-director Quentin Tarrantino exploded onto the movie scene in 1992 virtually every crime film looks and sounds like a "Reservoir Dogs" rip-off. Films like "Things to do in Denver When You Are Dead" and "2 Days in the Valley," borrow liberally from Tarrantino’s style of tough-talking lowlifes forced into desperate scenarios. In contrast, "Bottle Rocket" is a crime comedy that features refreshingly nice guys in funny situations.

The film opens as Anthony (Luke Wilson) is preparing to leave the mental health clinic in which he has been staying for the past couple of months for exhaustion. Despite the clinic’s open-door policy, his buddy Dignan (co-writer and Luke’s real-life brother Owen) has formulated a plan for Anthony’s escape. Thus starts the misadventure of our lovable anti-heroes, as they take their first steps toward their dream of criminal success.

Dignan and Anthony enlist the aid of Bob, played by Bob Musgrave, as the crucial getaway driver. The plan is to do a hold-up on their own, in order to impress the local criminal guru, Mr. Henry. James Caan plays Mr. Henry in a wonderful tongue-in-cheek sendup of virtually every role he has played since Sonny Corleone.

The trios of would-be bandits decide to rob a bookstore as their first job. After nearly botching the robbery, they take the money and go on the lamb, as all known fugitives should. They end up shacking up in a small Texas-Mexican border town. Each one of their idiosyncrasies end, up wearing on each other’s nerves and the three eventually have a parting of the ways.

After some time passes, Dignan reconciles with Anthony and Bob and informs them that news of their bookstore hold-up has reached Mr. Henry and he wants to work with them. Mr. Henry puts them together with some of his crew for a big job. Despite Dignan’s meticulous planning the robbery ends up going comically awry.

"Bottle Rocket" is the first feature film from co-writer and director Wes Anderson, who won last year’s MTV Movie Award for best new filmmaker. The movie also marks the acting debuts of the talented Wilson brothers. Owen has parlayed his outstanding performance into supporting roles in "The Cable Guy" and "Anaconda" and appears poised for stardom. Luke is currently filming a romantic comedy with his real-life girlfriend Drew Barrymore.

"Bottle Rocket" is the type of film that translates well onto home video because of its limited scope and engaging characters. The feeling you get from this film is much like that of an actual bottle rocket. The filmmakers do not try to be a firecracker with a big explosion. They are quite content to aim low and make a small, but rather enjoyable little spark.

TAXI DRIVER

The 1970s were the golden age of filmmaking in this country. Writers and directors began to make very personal films that expressed the post-Vietnam frustration of America. Perhaps the finest example of this new era of films is the 1976 classic "Taxi Driver".

Taxi Driver was written by Paul Schrader and directed by Martin Scorsese. It stars Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle a New York City cabbie.

Travis is a loner in the truest sense of the term. For whatever reason, he is unable to make any connection with other people. He hangs out with his fellow cabbies, yet does not say a word. He takes a pretty young woman named Betsy (Cybill Sheppard) out on a date, but he offends her so much she will not talk to him. Travis cannot even get through to Iris, the 12-year-old hooker played by Jodie Foster, who he tries to persuade him to leave the streets.

The only thing in the world that Travis can relate to is the city’s streets he travels every night. The paradox is that he abhors the streets and the city as a whole. The feeling of alienation slowly graduates to full-blown paranoia. Travis wants to speak out against the horrors he sees everyday. Since he cannot express himself verbally, he subconsciously chooses violence as his forum.

After a failed assassination attempt on the political candidate Betsy works for, he turns his focus on Sport, Iris’s pimp, played by the virtually unrecognizable Harvey Keitel. In the film’s climax Travis is not just waging war against Sport, but against the city and the society that has swallowed him whole.

Robert De Niro’s performance in Taxi Driver is one of the finest in film history. The synergistic relationship De Niro had with writer Schrader and director Scorsese helped him not just create, but become Travis Bickle. De Niro and Foster were both nominated for Academy Awards, as was the film, but each lost in their category. Despite not taking home any golden statues, Taxi Driver remains an American classic and an anthem of the 1970s.

If you have a suggestion for a true B-Movie or Couch Classic or comment about this column, you can e-mail Dan by addressing your electronic mail to TheStaff@MODEweekly.com, attention B-Movie Reviews.