Owen Wilson is a funny guy, and that’s usually what he banks on since his brand of comedy is somewhere between slapstick and the modern era nuttiness that a lot of people enjoy. He’s shown that he can be dramatic as well but it usually comes down to people expecting him to be amusing or hilarious in some way and when he does come out with a serious movie it doesn’t seem to get that much attention. But the fact remains that he can be dramatic and still be convincing in his role no matter what anyone says. He does manage to practice his dramatic skills within the comedies he stars in at times and it really does work since it gives his movies a lot more depth and, when paired with Vince Vaughn, it really evens them out since Vaughn’s energy is kind of hard to calm down at times.
Here are a few movies that could be called some of his best.
5. Royal Tenenbaums
The Tenenbaum’s are, for lack of a better word, crazy with a capital C. Not a one of them doesn’t suffer from some issue that was rightfully earned in their younger years and their father is a man that has made just about every bad decision a father ever could with his children throughout the years. But when he comes back to try and make things right things only get more and more wrong until one of his kids decides to try and kill himself and the ruse that he uses to proclaim that he’s dying is uncovered after a while. After a great deal of confusion and hurt the family does reconcile and things begin to move in an improved direction at least.
4. Zoolander
This movie was a bit difficult to watch, and not because it was that intellectually stimulating. It’s an obvious spoof about male models and their lifestyle as they go about their days and try to remain relevant in an industry that’s constantly changing and evolving. At one point Zoolander has to admit that Hansel, the next big thing and his possible replacement in the modeling world, might be better than he is. But eventually it’s discovered that Hansel isn’t any brighter than Zoolander and, well, he’s just another model that’s going to use his time to his advantage before time passes him by as well.
3. Shanghai Noon
Perhaps the only thing that could have ruined this movie was the admission of Roy’s real name being Wyatt Earp at the very end, but that was almost a ‘there and gone’ kind of moment that many fans could probably let go without comment. Throughout the rest of the movie it’s pretty obvious that Wilson and Chan have a great enough chemistry that they can work together in a very seamless and effective manner. It might not be the same as Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan in Rush Hour but it still works on a very real level that made this a funny and engaging movie. The sequel however was nowhere near as great.
2. Cars
Some people might be kind of tired of the whole Cars saga, but the truth is that when it came out it was one of the most loved animated features of its time. Even when the sequel didn’t do as great, at least in public opinion, it seems that Cars was still a great go-to movie that could keep on producing the numbers from devoted fans and kids that just loved the characters. In fact the idea of Planes that came on the heels of this feature was supposed to be just as widely accepted but you could say that it kind of crashed and burned in that regard since Cars was and still remains one of the best features of its kind.
1. Wedding Crashers
This film employs a very obvious ‘hit it and quit it’ mentality that makes men look like little more than opportunistic horndogs that are just looking for a single night of female companionship after pretending to be someone they’re not in order to be as impressive and as attractive as possible. But if you can get past the inherent wrongness of this act and see the comedy within it then you should get a good laugh since eventually the guys do end up getting their comeuppance in a way. But then again they do learn a lesson and find that real love is about more than just trickery and deceit, so they do manage to send a message that as low as men can go they can also be quite humble when it’s really needed. Otherwise, yeah, the two main characters start out as little more than overgrown frat boys ready to do whatever they can to get women.
Comedy is Owen Wilson’s forte, but drama is definitely a skill he possesses as well.
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