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.
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.