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Reviews Counted:41
Fresh:17
Rotten:24
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: The Wendell Baker Story is a lackadaisical comedy of quirky characters and situations, but ultimately the lazy narrative bores instead of charms.
Synopsis: Luke Wilson writes and directs (along with his brother, Andrew Wilson) this comedy about a former conman with a heart of gold. Wendell has a way with people, but fails to make the most of his... [More]
Starring: Luke Wilson, Eva Mendes, Owen Wilson, Seymour Cassel
Director: Andrew Wilson, Luke Wilson
Luke’s script is both funny and poignant, but he and Andrew do the writing a disservice by failing to set up the onscreen delivery and stubbornly clinging to tacked-on scenarios that do nothing to further the plot.
This is a faux feel-good movie, and its hipster insincerity and rote sentimentalism are a dispiriting mix.
It's a shame it didn't come out two years ago, as it may have then been seen as something original rather than just as a knock-off of My Name is Earl.
Honestly, it's more like a Texas-style home movie than a Hollywood movie, and it's not worth the ten bucks.
The story doesn't matter as much as the genial good-time vibe.
This shambling, good-natured comedy is a Wilson family affair.
Top CriticLuke Wilson makes the case that he can act just as cool and laid-back as his brother Owen.
The Wendell Baker Story, although good-natured, tries too hard to replicate the squirreliness of a Wes Anderson film, while declining to partake of its sadness and irony.
An idiosyncratic and larky movie that celebrates the virtue of hospitality as a grace that lubricates relationships and facilitates community.
Silly but lovable.
A shambling, episodic movie that, in the end, just droops along to nowhere.
The Wendell Baker Story just feels like an attempt to rebottle the postmodern fizz of Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket. I wish instead they'd put a stopper in it.
Low-key to comatose, Wendell Baker might have been improved were it shot in 16mm black and white.
The Wilsons can't even tell a been-there-done-that story of a con artist who gets his comeuppance without calling it The Wendell Baker Story, as if the character belongs, by virtue of his Wilsonian pedigree, on a pedestal.
The Wilsons’ venture was shot in Austin, the global center of slackerology, and has barely summoned the energy to leave the place.
Top CriticIf its nostalgia is a bit creaky, it's nonetheless also delivered with great heart.
It's evident by the incremental narrative skids that come with the passing of each of its three acts that Luke Wilson started out with an energized idea that he simply couldn't sustain.
At once insouciantly laid back and beguilingly loony.
Top CriticI would have much rather watched Cassel and Stanton riff and try to pick up chicks for two hours. But life simply isn’t that sweet for me.
A little of the Wilsons goes a long way.
July 16, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review 
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