The Best and Worst of Owen Wilson

The "Best and Worst" series profiles the best and worst work of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week I take a look at the filmography of "No Escape" star Owen Wilson.

Films starring Owen Wilson that I've seen:
Bottle Rocket
Anaconda
Armageddon 
Shanghai Noon
Meet the Parents
Zoolander
The Royal Tenenbaums
I Spy
Shanghai Knights
Starsky & Hutch
Meet the Fockers 
Wedding Crashers
You, Me and Dupree
Night at the Museum
Drillbit Taylor
Little Fockers
Hall Pass 
Midnight in Paris
Cars 2
The Big Year
The Internship
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Performance: Wedding Crashers (2005)
Wilson has made a career of being the second-banana in comedy films. Films like Zoolander, Meet the Parent and I Spy saw him taking a back seat to a big comic star (Ben Stiller in the former two and Eddie Murphy in the latter) and subsequently being outshined by them. Wedding Crashers was one of the few times where Wilson got to be in the spotlight and he absolutely crushed it. Wilson may not have the demented snark and whirlwind energy of his costar Vince Vaughn, but his reserved delivery and brilliant timing led to some of the film's biggest laughs.

Worst Performance: You, Me and Dupree (2006)
Wilson's best trait as an actor is his inherent likability. The likability that defines him was thrown out the window for his role in the terrible 2006 comedy You, Me and Dupree. Wilson plays Dupree, a "loveable" loser who is forced to move in with his best friend (Matt Dillion) and new bride (Kate Hudson) after he his evicted from his apartment. There was not a minute where Wilson was on screen in this film where I didn't want to punch him in the face. Dupree is an obnoxious asshole and as a viewer, you want nothing more than to see overwhelming pain continuously inflicted on him. Wilson has never been so insufferable on screen and he would have to put together a Herculean effort to ever top this.


Best Film: Zoolander (2001)
Wilson has been a part of a number of excellent comedies over the years, but none are as absurd and consistently laugh-out-loud funny as Zoolander. I've seen Zoolander at least half a dozen times since I was in middle school and it doesn't lose any of its comedic value on repeat views. The characters are full-blown insane and Stiller's satire on the ridiculousness of the world of male-modeling is sharp and spot-on. Hopefully the sequel- which is currently slated to be released next February- can capture at least some of the brilliance of this film. 


Worst Film: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
I'm sure someone will crucify me for picking this over widely-panned films like I Spy, The Internship and Drillbit Taylor. The truth is that I'm not a Wes Anderson fan at all. I find his movies to be pretentious, annoying and woefully unfunny. Of all the Anderson films I've seen, The Royal Tennenbaums is easily the worst. It's the strongest example of everything I hate about Anderson as a filmmaker wrapped into one movie and the fact that he wasted the talents of so many great actors (Stiller, Gene Hackman, Bill Murray, Luke Wilson) on this dreck fills me with an unholy amount of rage. This movie can go straight to hell where it belongs. 

 Thank you for reading this week's installment of "The Best and Worst of". In two weeks, I'll take a look at the best and worst work of "Sleeping with Other People" star Adam Scott.