Owen Wilson's Steely Response

Fri., Jul. 28, 2006 4:40 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Owen Wilson doesn't know who this Steely Dan guy thinks he is, but the actor doesn't agree with what "he" has to say.

The funk-rock duo that is Steely Dan took Wilson to task last week over his character in the recently released You, Me and Dupree, posting a letter on the band Website (randomly addressed to Luke Wilson) claiming that the title character played by Wilson was a rip-off of their 2000 Grammy-winning tune "Cousin Dupree."

According to Wilson, there's no relation whatsoever.

"I have never heard the song 'Cousin Dupree' and I don't even know who this gentleman, Mr. Steely Dan, is," the Wedding Crashers star snickered in a statement. "I hope this helps to clear things up and I can get back to concentrating on my new movie, Hey 19."

"Hey Nineteen" being a hit single from the 1980 Steely Dan album Gaucho, of course.

"Cousin Dupree" is about a guy named Dupree who has been sleeping on his aunt Faye's couch while he plans his next move in life, only to start salivating over his "little cousin," Janine. "What's so strange about a down-home family romance?" Dupree lasciviously wonders. Meanwhile, the film, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, is about a guy named Dupree who's figuring out his next move in life while sleeping on his newly married best friend's couch. The buddy, played by Matt Dillon, then starts wondering if his best man is putting the moves on his bride.

Bandmates Walter Becker and Donald Fagen had been aiming for an in-person mea culpa, however.

"Hey, Luke, man," the duo wrote July 17 from their hotel room in Corpus Christi, Texas, while they were between gigs, "there is one petite solid you could do for us at this time--do you think you could persuade your bro to do the right thing and come on down to our concert at Irvine and apologize to our fans for this travesty?"

Oh yeah, and Becker and Fagen also said that the movie kinda sucked. And that Wilson was losing major points as an actor in their eyes, despite the fact that they really liked Bottle Rocket. From 1996.

Wilson obviously didn't show up last week to placate the Everything Must Go rockers, but perhaps he has suffered enough. You, Me and Dupree attracted few nice words from critics upon its release July 14, and even less nice money from moviegoers. With $52 million in box office receipts to date, the film hasn't quite recouped its production costs yet, per BoxOfficeMojo.com.

So if you're going to compare Duprees, "Cousin Dupree" is ahead by a mile, having scored Steely Dan a Grammy in 2001 for best pop performance by a duo or group.

So far Wilson hasn't had to defend his animated turn as a hotshot racecar in need of a comeuppance in Cars, which is one of the year's biggest movies. The 37-year-old has also teamed up with Ben Stiller and Robin Williams for the comedy Night at the Museum, due out Dec. 22.

There's no word yet on when HEY 19 hits multiplexes.