Owen Wilson makes optimism funny by showing how badly a man needs his friends to share it. We like him best when the easy drawl cannot quite hide the worry; charm alone is less interesting.
Fi1m perspective
In Bottle Rocket (1996), Owen Wilson's Dignan needs his friends to take his criminal plans seriously, and seems barely equipped to cope if they do not. His busy certainty makes the incompetence funny without making him someone we want to see humiliated. We felt unexpectedly protective of him during the bookstore robbery, because Wilson makes the commitment to a hopeless scheme so earnest. Luke Wilson's quieter Anthony gives him someone convincing to persuade, humour and depend upon.
Wes Anderson allows that friendship to develop, though the film sometimes drifts for longer than it should. He and Wilson co-wrote the script, which is less generous to Dignan's companion Bob. The partnership continued on The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), with Wilson again co-writing and appearing as Eli Cash. His contribution as a writer is worth remembering when the apparent ease of his acting gets all the attention.
Supporting work such as Meet the Parents (2000) led into a long stretch of ensemble comedy. His voice became Lightning McQueen's in Cars (2006); television later brought Mobius M. Mobius in Loki (2021–2023). He remains recognisable across those changes, with the drawl and unhurried delivery doing much of the work. We prefer the unease beneath the innocence of Gil in Midnight in Paris (2011) to another part content to let him coast.
Haunted Mansion (2023) shows how little even well-judged lightness can achieve without a useful script. Wilson's Father Kent, a priest of uncertain qualifications, gets many of the lines that land, and his sense that the whole thing is a lark is welcome. Yet director Justin Simien leaves him stranded while the film explains its ghosts again. Editor Phillip J. Bartell holds jokes past the laugh, which is a poor use of an actor whose delivery needs so little emphasis.
We would like his next parts to ask more of him than a friendly entrance. Another man as needy and determined as Dignan would be welcome. Begin with Bottle Rocket, allowing for its wandering pace.
Biography
Owen Wilson is an American actor and screenwriter. He was born in Dallas, Texas, and attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he met filmmaker Wes Anderson.
Wilson has collaborated frequently with Anderson. They co-wrote and co-starred in Bottle Rocket (1996) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001); the latter earned Wilson nominations for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay. He also appeared in Anderson's Rushmore (1998), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and The French Dispatch (2021).
Wilson starred as Gil Pender in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011), for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination. He is also known for voicing Lightning McQueen in the Cars film series (2006–present) and for roles in Wedding Crashers (2005) and the Night at the Museum series (2006–2014). He played Mobius M. Mobius in the Disney+ series Loki (2021–2023) and Father Kent in Haunted Mansion (2023).
