Friday, May 25, 2007

The "Genius" Of The Wilson Brothers?

Slate's at it again with another article dissecting the "unfulfilled promise" of something that nobody really thought was that promising anyway. Last time it was Jack Black, this time it's the Wilson Brothers. The Wilson Brothers? As actors? Sure they're entertaining, but who ever said they were brilliant masters of their craft? Maybe Owen Wilson has some talent as a screenwriter (given his apparent collaborations with Wes Anderson), but as far as his acting career is concerned it's not like he's Bill Murray. To quote Kenneth Branaugh, it's much ado about nothing. I do like the author's descriptions of the brothers' onscreen personas, but other that than that, she would have been better off writing about something that everyone agrees actually really had potential. Going back a little further, another article in Slate expresses disappointment with The Life Aquatic by crediting all of Wes Anderson's success to Owen Wilson's screenplay contributions. Call it a hunch if you will, but my bet is that Wes was probably the brains behind that team (and I would also disagree with the currently fashionable critical opinion that The Life Aquatic was "clever but hollow" and that Wes Anderson's career has descended into "solipsism and ironic overload").

1 comment:

yoggoth said...

After watching The Life Aquatic a second time I found much to appreciate. Should your description of the current critical consensus be accurate I can only politely call it weak brained hogwash. If a movie is too complicated to review well in a small column, what better way to avoid dealing with it than calling it 'self-indulgent'. Newsflash-- choosing motion picture director as a career is self-indulgent to begin with.