The Bottom Line: Who Gives a ‘Hoot’ About Luke Wilson?

Luke Wilson can’t afford to come down with the summertime blues. Not if the droll Texan wants to step out of the long shadow cast by older brother Owen. 

Wilson’s everywhere this summer, beginning with Hoot (May 5). He faces Uma Thurman’s wrath after he dumps her in My Super Ex-Girlfriend (July 21), and then he closes the summer with the sci-fi farce Idiocracy (Sept. 1).

And the future Ewing—he’s Bobby in Dallas–has finished the black comedy Mini’s First Time, co-directed his fellow Frat Packers in The Wendell Baker Story, and is about to star in the mob satire You Kill Me.

But is there a Wedding Crashers among Wilson’s summer slate? Probably not.

Hoot “won’t be the No. 1 movie that week,” director Wil Shriner admits. Not with the good-natured children’s conservation caper opening against Mission: Impossible III. Still, Carl Hiaasen’s novel has a loyal following among kids, and Hoot’s produced by Holes and Because of Winn-Dixie’s Walden Media. As a PG-rated alternate to M:iIII, Hoot should do better than Because of Winn-Dixie ($32.6 million) but not Holes ($67.4 million).

audiences may be superheroed-out by X-Men: The Last Stand and Superman Returns when My Super Ex-Girlfriend arrives. And even though this spoof is directed by Ghostbusters’ Ivan Reitman, one bad break-up may be one too many to endure after The Break-Up.

Wilson shot Idiocracy two years ago. If director Mike Judge had made another potential cult hit à la Office Space, Fox would have unveiled Idiocracy much sooner. Or not consigned it to the dumping ground known as Labor Day weekend.

Still, one hit would help Wilson distance himself from his brother and the Frat Pack. He’s the only Frat Packer not to achieve success in his own right with an Elf, Meet the Parents or Wedding Crashers. And, as Shriner says, “If Luke has a couple of movies that does that kind of business, then (he and Owen) will both be household names.”

Wilson’s problem is he’s not the brother you want to hang with. He’s too laidback to take notice of, and he’s deadpan to the point of being deadly dull. Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn easily stole Old School from Wilson. Remember him in Blue Streak? Or The Family Stone? Well, you won’t recall he’s in Hoot, considering he’s upstaged by several burrowing owls.

Owen isn’t a better actor, but he’s funny and charismatic. No wonder he landed bigger and better roles after he and Luke made their debuts in Bottle Rocket. Of course, it helps that Owen hooked up with Ben Stiller— before the Frat Pack convened–and Jackie Chan.

Wilson found himself on Drew Barrymore’s arm, but that brief encounter regrettably led to Best Men and Home Fries. Only Old School spared Wilson a career of playing the nice and safe boyfriends he perfected in Charlie’s Angels and Legally Blonde.

Even with three films out this summer, Wilson will likely cede bragging rights to his brother. Owen lends his voice to Disney/Pixar’s Cars. Then he comes between newlyweds Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon in You, Me and Dupree, which opens one week before My Super Ex-Girlfriend.

Oh, the joys of sibling rivalry.

The Bottom Line
Wilson’s the only Frat Packer without a blockbuster to his name. Taking up residency at the Southfork Ranch won’t help: Dallas rises or falls on John Travolta’s J.R. Ewing, not Wilson’s Bobby. So Wilson needs a long, hot summer of hits, or he’ll never get close to being known as anything other than Owen’s younger brother.