Its tone has elements of Jim Jarmusch and the Coen brothers but without Jarmusch's self-conscious artiness or the Coens' hip snottiness.
83
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
The title refers to cheap fireworks that fizz before they flame out quietly, and that's what three Southwestern slackers do in this amiable heist movie-cum-road flick.
75
USA TodayMike Clark
USA TodayMike Clark
Rocket flies with comic-kaze crooks. [21 February 1996, p. D6]
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A hilarious, inventive and goofy breath of fresh air.
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Fresh, character driven, often funny, and unfashionably upbeat (as well as offbeat).
70
The New Yorker
The New Yorker
Meanders pleasantly, like a road movie, with a seventies-style, anything-goes offhandedness that whisks the audience through the rough spots.
This lightweight road picture about a group of inept thieves has an uneven beginning but ends up charming and satisfying.
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Bottle Rocket's minimalist pop has a refreshing flavor but insufficient bubbles for a long, cool drink. Maybe someone ought to think about culling this thing down into a sustainable short film.
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The film itself is wretched. A grueling, numbing black hole.
12
San Francisco Examiner
San Francisco Examiner
Several times during this film, you wish you were a bottle rocket so you could explode out of your seat and leave this tedious mess behind.