Owen Wilson, Mad Genius?

Once again Slate.com has come up with an article that I should have thought of, but didn't (click on title above for link to article). It's about how Owen Wilson, who we may sometimes think is merely a goofy yet charismatic comic actor that likes to hang out at the Playboy Mansion, is perhaps really quite a shrewd filmmaker who contributed handsomely to director Wes Anderson's initial success (they co-wrote the screenplays of Anderson's first three films together) by balancing out Anderson's more bookish tendencies with Wilson's own brand of middle-brow humor and worldliness. Like the author of the Slate article, Field Maloney, I also recently watched the DVDs "Bottle Rocket" and "Rushmore" again--with the audio commentary--and I too noticed that Wilson makes many very astute comments throughout these viewings. I also saw "Wedding Crashers" last weekend and thought to myself, "Too bad Wes Anderson didn't direct this picture from a screenplay he co-wrote with Owen Wilson, because then it might have been interesting instead of standard, safe Hollywood drivel with no art whatsoever that plays like another SNL skit gone on too long, except that at least it is almost saved perhaps by the comic timing of Wilson and Vince Vaughn, who do have their moments." That's what I thought, I swear.

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