Owen Wilson Is Doing His Own Wes Anderson Movies Now — Sans Wes Anderson
If Wes Anderson were to make a fictional film about Bob Ross similar to the upcoming Paint, he would probably also cast Owen Wilson.
The trailer for Wilson’s much-anticipated movie released last week, and the IFC film about an Afro-adorned painter in the likeness of a certain beloved public television painting icon looks every bit as subdued, idiosyncratic and symmetrical as the many movies Wilson made with Anderson during their heyday in the 2000s. Paint will premiere on AMC+ this April 7th, and the film seems poised to be a heavily nostalgic and quietly playful movie in the style of any aughts classic like The Royal Tenenbaums.
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Paint appears to be a throwback — not just to Ross’ The Joy of Painting, but to the joy of twee.
From the shot composition to the old-timey TV set to the — ahem — color palette, the Paint trailer could be easily compared to the 2000s-era Anderson movies that also starred Wilson. The ukulele music ties this aughts-evocative teaser together as we remember the days when vintage vinyl, craft beers and flannel shirts were the currency of artsy, movie-going white people — well, more than they are today.
Whether Paint director Brit McAdams intended to pay homage to Anderson in the shots from the trailer or if the similarity to Anderson’s work during the 2000s is simply the inevitable coincidence of making a nostalgic comedy about a quiet, quirky artist is unclear, but the trailer takes us back to the times when coffee shops were abuzz with adoration for Anderson and repetitions of Jon Stewart’s rips on the Bush administration.
If Bill Murray somehow makes an appearance in Paint, then they’ll have to pay Anderson royalties.
