Caffeinated Clint
”The Wendell Baker Story” is an enjoyable affair which, while often plagued by some rather chop changey narrative at times, is yet another fantastic installment to the Wilson & Co catalouge.
Seymour Cassel, Eddie Griffin, Harry Dean Stanton, Jacob Vargas, Kris Kristofferson ,Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson
Call me biased, but you could put the Wilson brothers in pretty much anything and you wouldn’t be able to escape the likability and charm they convey on screen.
Luke Wilson as a rapist? Likable. Owen Wilson as a pedophile? Give him the keys to my house! Luke and Owen Wilson as regular perpetrators of violent hate crimes? Here, take my wife.
My point is – the guys can make a rather lame duck piece of film into a worthwhile 90 minutes of your time. Which seems to be the case with the inherently likable ”The Wendell Baker Story”.
Written by Luke Wilson (who not only plays the lead role but Co-Directs the flick with the often forgotten third Wilson brother, Andrew) ”The Wendell Baker Story” is an enjoyable affair which, while often plagued by some rather chop changey narrative at times, is yet another fantastic installment to the Wilson & Co catalouge.
The flick (set in a lovely looking Texas) follows dreamer and schemer Wendell Baker, whose latest scam (selling ID’s with “official Texas hologram technology” to Mexican border jumpers) lands him in jail and alienates him from his longtime girlfriend Doreen, best friend Reyes and even his dog, Junior.
Eternally optimistic, Wendell makes the most of his time behind bars and vows to turn his life around – with hopes of going into the hotel business. Upon release, he gets a job at the Shady Grove retirement hotel, where he befriends the old time residents. Wendell’s new friends advise him on how to win back his girlfriend, as well as battle the hotel’s evil head nurse, Neil King (Owen Wilson) and his right-hand man, McTeague (Eddie “How The Hell Does He Keep Getting Cast” Griffin).
While the ‘big’ laughs are few and far between (the comedy tone of the flick seems to switch as randomly as the narrative, with it never quite sure of whether it’s a silly comedy or playing it straight), there are still plenty of stand out moments. Will Ferrell (in his obligatory cameo) delivers in the short time he’s on screen, as do the senior members of the cast in Seymour Cassel and Kris Kristofferson who are just fantastic. Owen Wilson also delivers with his infectious smile – and I simply can’t go past the montage of Wendell’s time in prison (the joining of the crypts and arians is a cracker!) which he makes look like Disneyland. Great stuff.
A surprisingly feel good flick which won’t disappoint, for the pure fact that Luke Wilson oozes cool – and the whole tone of the flick oozes fun.
The copy we received didn’t contain any extras, but you would hope that somewhere out there is a behind the scenes featurette which exposes the good times on set.
A must have for those who already have a Wilson-heavy DVD collection.
Rating : 
Reviewer : Sean Lynch
