'BOTTLE ROCKET' SOARS AS A CRIME MISADVENTURE.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic

New filmmakers have been fascinated by young men's criminal misadventures since, at least, Martin Scorsese's influential "Mean Streets" in 1973.

"Bottle Rocket" is one of the most refreshing movies that we've seen of this ilk, a fresh and funny suburban take on the formula. Directed with ironic elan by eccentric Texas newcomer Wes Anderson from a script he wrote with co-star Owen C. Wilson, "Rocket's" tone keeps veering from an angry asphalt sensibility to something more leafy, lazy and laugh-strewn.

Yet, even as it boldly substitutes goofy for gritty, "Rocket" never loses sight of credibility. It's hard to doubt that these naive, would-be outlaws would fumble their budding crime careers in exactly the manner shown.

Something of a brother act, the movie stars Luke Wilson as Anthony, a vaguely troubled young man we first spy escaping from an Arizona mental facility. Since it's a voluntary hospital, he doesn't need to sneak out. He's just pretending to in order to please his childhood buddy Dignan (Owen C.), whose elaborate robbery schemes quickly reveal that he, not Anthony, is the one who belongs in a rest home.

On the bus back to Dallas, Dignan details his intricate plans for their underworld careers. The first thing they do upon arrival is knock over an unoccupied house, which we later learn belongs to Anthony's parents. That was just practice. But they soon rob a bookstore with their wealthy friend Bob Mapplethorpe (Robert Musgrave) providing getaway service, since he's the only one who has a car.

The gang lies low at a roadside motel, where all of Dignan's plans unravel. Anthony falls in love with the Paraguayan maid Inez ("Like Water for Chocolate's" Lumi Cavazos). Bob splits - with the car - to help his domineering older sibling Futureman (a third Wilson brother, Andrew) fight a pot-growing bust that's really Bob's fault.

Despite the distractability of his accomplices, Dignan grows ever more determined to mastermind the perfect crime. When he falls in with James Caan's professional crook, Mr. Henry, Dignan endeavors to seduce his wayward gang into one more foolproof job - which, of course, is bound to be an even bigger fiasco than the last one.

Through it all, the ties of friendship prove stronger than wildly varied personal agendas and abject stupidity. Anthony, Dignan and Bob are all off-kilter in their own unique ways - Dignan most severely and humorously, with his earnest, clueless careerism - but you can see how deeply they need one another, no matter how much trouble they get into together.

"Bottle Rocket" grew out of a similarly energized friendship between Anderson and Owen Wilson. After discovering they shared similar tastes in movies and an appreciation of the absurd, the University of Texas students first made "Bottle Rocket" as a black-and-white short subject. It caught the attention of Oscar-winning filmmaker James L. Brooks ("Terms of Endearment") and his partner, Polly Platt, who eventually backed this feature-length version.

Glad they did. "Bottle Rocket" entertains in so many ways - as comedy, character study, coming-of-age story and, yes, even suspenser - that letting it slip by would have been a real crime.

THE FACTS

The film: "Bottle Rocket" (R; language, violence, sex).

The stars: Luke Wilson, Owen C. Wilson, Robert Musgrave, Lumi Cavazos, James Caan, Andrew Wilson.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Wes Anderson. Written by Owen C. Wilson and Wes Anderson. Produced by Polly Platt and Cynthia Hargrave. Released by Columbia Pictures.

Running time: One hour, 35 minutes.

Playing: Century 14, Century City.

Our rating: Three Stars.

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

Photo Would-be thieves played by newcomers Robert Musgrave, left, Luke Wilson and Owen C. Wilson undertake a surveillance mission in "Bottle Rocket," a short subject by a pair of University of Texas students that grew into a full-length feature with the backing of James L. Brooks.