Owen Wilson names his two most underrated movies: “They find people who embrace them”
Owen Wilson has many tricks up his sleeve.
With his distinctive voice, he has lent himself to many animated hits, his role as Lightning McQueen in Cars being his best, of course, while his move between indie and mainstream movies has been aided by the fact that he’s also a skilled writer.
You see, Wilson might have appeared in a fair few Wes Anderson films, playing offbeat characters that you can’t help but love, but he is also responsible for co-writing quite a few of them. His first-ever role was in Anderson’s Bottle Rocket, which he penned with the filmmaker, and this kick-started both of their careers. The pair met in college, and their time as roommates proved to be vital in establishing a creative connection which would spawn countless collaborations.
Wilson also co-wrote Rushmore, and while he didn’t star in the film, he took on acting roles in various popular movies that allowed his star power to elevate. From Michael Bay’s Armageddon to Zoolander, he was becoming a big shot in Hollywood, but he wasn’t going to stop writing with Anderson and starring in his films, appearing in The Royal Tenenbaums in 2001, which he helped his old roomate pen as well before reuniting three years later for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, although he didn’t have writing credits this time.
Yet, it’s this latter one, and their next collaboration, 2007’s The Darjeeling Limited, which Wilson believes to be the most underappreciated, considering them to be some of his favourite pieces of work, where in Anderson’s oeuvre, they’re often overlooked in favour of bigger titles, like Fantastic Mr Fox or The Grand Budapest Hotel.
While his first collaboration with Anderson will always take gold, he thinks these 2000s gems should be seen by more people, as he told the AV Club, “People ask me, ‘What’s your favourite movie?’ And I always say Bottle Rocket, almost like as a reflex, just because it was the first movie and it was Wes and my brothers and got us all started. I also like Life Aquatic and Darjeeling too.”
Expanding on his love for the latter two, Wilson picked them when asked about the films of his he wished got more appreciation. “I really loved Life Aquatic and Darjeeling. But even those movies that didn’t necessarily do that well, they find people who do really embrace them”.
While The Darjeeling Limited did a little better, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was actually a box office flop, underperforming by over $15million, with some critics tiring of Anderson’s comedic, ironic style. However, little did they know that he wouldn’t be giving up on that anytime soon.
Yet, Anderson has such a dedicated fanbase that these films have hardly faded into obscurity in the years since they were released. Wilson should be glad that the director makes the kinds of films that inspire such devoted worship, because even these unsuccessful entries into his filmography have since found love, and you can’t ask for much more than that.
