Directors: Luke Wilson, Andrew Wilson
Writers: Luke Wilson
Starring: Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Kris Kristofferson, Harry Dean Stanton, Seymour Cassel, Will Ferrell, Eva Mendez
Cinematographer: Steve Mason
Studio/Running Time: MHF Zweite Academy, 95 mins.
“If you’re gonna con the con man, you’re liable to get burned.”
-Jeff Healey “Confidence Man”
Luke Wilson is a busy man. His “average guy” appeal has enamored audiences and Hollywood, a fact proven from the numerous roles in which he has co-starred with the likes of Jessica Simpson (in the upcoming Blonde Ambition), Kate Beckinsale, Uma Thurman, Claire Danes and Reese Witherspoon. But the one constant companion of the star and writer of The Wendell Baker Story has been a notebook, an idea he learned from screenwriter Sam Shepard. A word of advice, Luke: Keep writing. But keep moving. You’re a long way from Shepard’s shadow and it’s always harder to hit a moving target.
Wilson plays reformed con man Wendell Baker who takes a job at a retirement hotel after his release from prison. The head nurse, played by brother Owen Wilson, is swindling the old timers out of their medicare payments and shipping folks off to work on his mother’s farm in Oklahoma. Luke wants to help the residents, especially his newfound friends, Skip (Harry Dean Stanton), Boyd (Seymour Cassel) and Nasher (Kris Kristofferson), but he also wants to win back his girlfriend (Eva Mendes) from grocer Dave Bix (Will Ferrell). With the exception of Ferrell’s small-but-hilarious role, senior citizens Stanton and Cassel almost steal the film. Although the dialogue is, at times, sharp and intelligently funny, the convoluted storyline can’t keep up, and things become hackneyed and annoyingly predictable at the end. Again Luke, please keep writing. But don’t give up your day job.