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THE WENDELL BAKER STORY
Directed by: Andrew & Luke Wilson.
Produced by: Mark Johnson & David Bushell.
Written by: Luke Wilson.
Director of Photography: Steve Mason.
Edited by: Harvey Rosenstock & Peter Teschner.
Music by: Aaron Zigman.
Released by: ThinkFilm.
Country of Origin: USA. 99 min. Rated PG-13.
With: Luke Wilson, Eva Mendes, Jacob Vargas, Owen Wilson, Harry Dean Stanton, Kris Kristofferson, Seymour Cassel, Eddie Griffin & Will Ferrell.

Who else but Luke Wilson, one of the most generally good-natured leading men working today, would write, co-direct, and star as the most “aw-shucks” Southern boy since the days of Burt Reynolds? (One rarely, if ever, sees Wilson play any kind of a heel or a character too complex outside of a Wes Anderson film.)

Quasi-hero Wendell Baker starts out as a con-man fashioning with his business partner driver licenses and visas in the back of a trailer on the Tex-Mex border. He gets caught, goes to prison for two years, and in the process loses his girlfriend, Doreen (Eva Mendes), whom he fawns over for the most of the movie. Like many proud men, he doesn’t have the common sense to tell her she’s the love of his life.

Cut to two years later, he’s paroled and working at a retirement hotel run by the sleazy nurse Neil King (Owen Wilson) and his cohort McTeague (Eddie Griffin). One night at a convenience store, Wendell discovers a worker (Will Ferrell) is now dating his Doreen, who very simply admits she’s moved on. Wendell then chooses to change his life by reinvigorating his old con man ways and enlisting the help of three geezers (Seymour Cassel, Harry Dean Stanton, and Kris Kristofferson) to stop King’s wicked scheme of stealing all of the retirees’ Medicare funds.

From the start, there are amusing and strange moments laced in, like a scene early on where, in a case of bad timing, Wendell is in a men’s bathroom with a kid who can’t control his bladder. But even from the beginning’s bright spots, the writing isn’t as impressive or effective as Wilson is as an actor; his charm is undeniable, albeit coasting on his own script.

In general, there are more chuckles and minor guffaws to be had than big laugh-out-loud moments. Part of the problem is that the directors aren’t totally sure whether Wendell is a genuine fool with big dreams or someone totally aloof, who means well but doesn’t see the forest for the trees. Luckily, the directors are astute at casting, making great use of Cassel and Stanton. In one scene (maybe the funniest,) the two of them, on an excursion out of the retirement grounds, try out some outrageous pick-up lines on two teenage girls. There’s no real reason for this scene, at least at this moment in the movie, but it doesn’t matter as it’s simply a riot.

However, the directors never garner the right tone to their slice-of-life story, with way too many unnecessary close-ups and an overload of diverting rock and country songs. The actors make the film watchable; it’ll likely be a small treat for fans of the veteran actors and a curiosity for fans of Luke and Owen Wilson. But it’s also such a weird bird of a picture to recommend, lacking appropriate conflict, too light and lackadaisical a love story for effective romantic drama, and too slight and low-key to reach levels of deadpan and absurd sublimity that the Wilson brothers have shown in spades in Anderson’s films. Jack Gattanella
May 18, 2007