Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Spaceygirl Kris Kristofferson, Seymour Cassell & Harry Dean Stanton carry this little film on their able backs. They are hilarious. Harry Dean Stanton in particular is brilliant in his part. The Owen brothers are usually good but in this they're mediocre, even though Owen Wilson relishes his role as a 'villain'. Will Ferrell has fun in a small, but pivotal role. It's a silly film with a silly plot, you'd be forgiven for forgetting within five minutes of seeing it. Eva Mendes,though luminous, doesn't have much to do with her role and is criminally under-used. The script is weak and the dialogue inane. The cinematography is pretty though but does not make up for a bad film.

TxMike Simple. That is an appropriate summary of "The Wendell Baker Story." It was written and directed by Luke Wilson, who also plays the title role. And, it comes across more as a simple story and vanity project than it does a feature movie. Shot in and around Austin, Texas, it is a story of a small time con artist who gets a chance to go straight after a prison term, and perhaps re-win the affection of his one true love.Luke Wilson is Wendell Baker, who makes fake Texas I.D. cards just across the border into Mexico. When he gets busted, he spends a few years in the Huntsville prison, where he has a knack for making friends and being helpful. Bored, he reads Conrad Hilton's book and, when up for parole gets a chance to work at a "retirement" hotel.This "hotel" is being mis-run by Neil King (brother Owen Wilson) for his own benefit and, when certain residents get to be a burden get shipped out to a "farm" in Oklahoma. Wendell decides that he will rescue these poor should and expose Mr King for what he is.Two of the more interesting characters in the "hotel" are Seymour Cassel as Boyd and Harry Dean Stanton as Skip. Kris Kristofferson is Nasher, who turns out to be someone totally different from what others think.Eva Mendes is Doreen, who grew up knowing Wendell, and as the movie starts is Wendell's girlfriend. But she gets tired of waiting for him to "find" himself and moves on.It is obvious that Luke Wilson wrote the script to be meaningful in places about relationships, but to me it came across as shallow. A mostly entertaining 95 minutes, but in the end not much of a movie. Nothing memorable.SPOILERS: Nasher turns out to be a pilot, and he flies them to Oklahoma to retrieve the men that had be "Greyhounded" there. After, he disappears. With the help of two 16 year old girls they had met at a convenience store, Wendell, Boyd, and Skip get the cops onto King and his assistant. Then, Wendell finds out that Nasher really was a wealthy oil and hotel magnate who is requesting that Wendell run his flagship hotel in Austin on Lake Travis. There Wendell finally gets Doreen back.

edwagreen The Wilson Brothers- Owen and Luke star in this film which is basically nothing with nothing.Luke, as the corrupt individual bilking Medicare patients, is totally unconvincing here as well as out-of-character. He still appears that he can be taken to the cleaners at any time.Who cares if Eva Mendes wants Owen or not. She is totally unappealing in her role.Owen starts out as a smuggler of illegal Mexican immigrants and after he is jailed and pardoned, he is assigned to work at a senior citizens' residents where he sees much corruption.Harry Dean Stanton is also dead-pan in his role as one of the seniors. Isn't he always? It's nice seeing Seymour Cassel in a film? He was so appealing years ago in his supporting Oscar nominated performance in "Faces."Even the ending here is unappealing. Big surprise that good will eventually triumph over evil. Who was Kris Kristoferson supposed to be in this film? Howard Hughes?

modelcadet18 I just saw The Wendell Baker Story at what is its third screening, at the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville. Although, as stated in the prior comment, this movie will be no cult nor mainstream classic, it is highly entertaining. For a comedy, it is considerably light: the humor is mostly situational. I personally found Wendell Baker's greatest success in the developing of the secondary characters as foils. The movie does not have opening credits, instead only introducing the title. As such, I was pleasantly surprised to see many high profile actors in roles fitting well within the film. In the post-screening interview, Luke Wilson discussed how this choice for no opening credits was as an "album cover" and that, with the focus directly on the introduction of an Austin Texas feel. The acting in the film is generally good. Highlights for me were the performances of Grant James and Kris Kristofferson. I was, unfortunately, disappointed in Eva Mendes' delivery of her character. I feel the 'girlfriend who 'the guy' loses' cliché could have been as fresh as the other foil supporting characters. The film has many beautiful shots on location in Texas, although the editing at times is choppy (granted the film is still not finished). The music is absolutely wonderful: the folky rock feel contributing in subtle persistence to the southwestern feel of the film. I enjoyed this film. It was not profound... do not go to this movie to see another Royal Tenenbaums. The film is a comedy, but it is neither dark nor slapstick. It very much reminds me of Sideways in that both take advantage of a specific local color create a more personal and more relaxed movie. As such, while not often was I laughing, the ever-present humor kept me entertained.