More Money, More Movie -- `Bottle Rocket' Goes From Short To Feature

Like many low-budget theatrical releases, "Bottle Rocket" got its real start at the Sundance Film Festival.

Wes Anderson and Owen C. Wilson, classmates at the University of Texas in Austin, put together a 13-minute short of the same name, which they showed around at the Park City, Utah, festival three years ago. The comedy starred Wilson as a small-time thief who recruits his friends to join him in a life of petty crime.

Eventually the short came to the attention of Oscar-winning writer-director James L. Brooks ("Terms of Endearment") and production designer Polly Platt ("The Last Picture Show"), who agreed to produce a feature-length version for their company, Gracie Films, and Columbia Pictures.

James Caan signed on for a supporting role. Lumi Cavazos, who won prizes for her performance as Tita in "Like Water for Chocolate," was recruited to play the girlfriend of one of the characters. Most of the rest of the cast stayed the same. The finished film opens here tomorrow.

"It was never meant to be a short," said Wilson, who visited Seattle recently with Anderson.

"It was basically our script up to the point of the bookstore robbery (which happens early in the completed picture). Then we ran out of money."

A family friend, screenwriter/producer L.M. Kit Carson ("Breathless," "Paris, Texas"), recommended they take it to Sundance. He also arranged for Platt and Brooks to see it. Soon after they agreed to produce the picture, Anderson and Wilson discovered that what they thought was a 130-page script played more like 350 pages.

"We were reading it out loud in Jim Brooks' hotel room," said Wilson, "and Brooks went pale after we'd been reading for two and a half hours. We figured we needed some extensive editing."

An epic comedy

"It was truly an epic comedy," said Anderson. "But we didn't cut out any story elements, just a lot of chitchat."

Their original intention was not a comedy. They began writing "Bottle Rocket" in the early-1990s era of gangster movies ("GoodFellas," "Miller's Crossing"), and they were influenced by what they saw.

"We started out writing this gritty mobster-type New York story," said Wilson. "After a while, it became obvious we didn't have the chops for that." They also saw one gangster movie that convinced them they were on the road to disaster if they pursued this course.

Anderson cites Phil Joanou's "State of Grace" as "the perfect example of a California film student trying to do Hell's Kitchen."

"Eventually we'd like to do a drama," said Wilson, "but comedy was obviously the right choice."

The serious aspects still seep through, especially in the early scenes in which the boys wave guns around.

"We didn't immediately make it clear that these guys were not to be taken seriously," said Anderson. "We wanted the audience to realize that gradually."

The short film, which ended up costing $4,000, was their first try at establishing this comic tone. It also marked the first film acting for the cast, although some of the actors had stage experience.

"We were nervous on the short," said Wilson, "but a lot more comfortable when we did the feature. Still, there was a big crew hanging around from L.A."

One reason: the more recognizable members of the cast.

Caan's into karate

"We got James Caan right before we started filming," said Wilson. "It was the karate connection (in the film) that did it. He's really into that. We wanted a major star, a legendary kind of character, someone who'd done a lot of movies, to give that feeling."

"The $5 million budget is really closer to $2.5 million, plus all the studio overhead," said Anderson. "But the distribution deal is good." Ironically, the high-profile studio connections could be responsible for the rejection of the feature-length "Bottle Rocket" at this year's Sundance festival.

Austin is also the city where Richard Linklater got his start with "Slacker," then progressed to a couple of major-studio releases, "Before Sunrise" and "Dazed and Confused." Anderson and the Wilsons don't know him, but they attest to his influence in a movie-obsessed town.

"We were watching two movies a day," said Anderson. "Owen was working at Blockbuster, and I was a projectionist. Austin has lots of little movie theaters - and the film society (which Linklater started)."

Anderson had been planning to attend film school at Columbia University when "Bottle Rocket" took him on a three-year detour. At the University of Texas, he'd already earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy.

"I don't know how I ended up in philosophy," he said. "I did always like the philosophers who told stories, like Camus with `The Stranger.' "