GRADE: B

Written by director Wes Anderson and then-newcomer Owen Wilson, “Bottle Rocket” displays the same penchant for idiosyncratic dialogue and character development that has marked other Anderson-Wilson screenplays, including the seminal coming-of-age seriocomedy, “Rushmore,” and more recently “The Royal Tenebaums.”

The story follows the exploits of three close friends: Anthony (Luke Wilson), who’s just been released from a psychiatric hospital where he has been a patient for some months; Dignan (Owen Wilson), his best friend, who dreams of “going for it” by forming a gang and enjoying what he envisions as a successful life of crime; and Bob (Robert Musgrave), a kindred ne’er do well who’s spent a lifetime trying to escape the shadow and control of his nasty older brother.

Like Anderson’s “The Darjeeling Limited,” “Bottle Rocket” eventually takes on the tone and tenor of a journey that’s as much about finding some kind of compass to help them navigate adulthood as it is about the fantasy and promise of becoming master criminals.

That promise is driven mostly by Dignan’s deep affection for, and admiration of, Mr. Henry (James Caan), a local crime bigshot who appears to have taken him under his wing—or has he?

Following a hilarious sequence, in which the threesome attempts to rob a small bookstore, the boys go on the lam, eventually taking refuge at a small desert motel. It’s here that Anthony, who knows there’s really nothing of substance to Dignan’s dreams of a lucrative life of crime, but has gone along with him out of friendship and loyalty, meets the beautiful Inez, a quiet hotel housekeeper from Paraguay.

In other films, this kind of introduction generally leads to a pairing-off of characters and some sort of later revelation. But in typical Anderson-Wilson style, this development is drawn out in a way that defies standard convention, tricking the audience into thinking they know what’s in-store for these bungling, would-be criminals.

Featuring an eclectic soundtrack of a kind that would mark his subsequent films, “Bottle Rocket” doesn’t aim only for laughs; many aspects of the screenplay involve serious examinations of loneliness, honor, love and camaraderie, especially as the plot thickens and heads towards what could turn out to be a distinctly bittersweet resolution.

Whether or not Anderson manages to pull a happy ending out of his hat is part of the fun he serves up in this impressive debut effort. “Bottle Rocket” also boasts a terrific cameo by the always intense Caan, more than a handful of inspiring location shots that effectively convey and support the story’s winding narrative, and a humanistic message that manages to be truthful without being hollow or self-righteous.

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