Wendell Baker is a good-hearted conman whose latest scam lands him in jail and alienates him from everyone he loves, including his longtime girlfriend Doreen, his best friend Reyes, and even his devoted dog, Junior. Eternally optimistic, Wendell makes the most of his time behind bars and vows to turn his life around. Upon release, he gets a job at the Shady Grove Retirement Hotel, where he befriends residents Boyd, Skip and Nasher. Wendell's new friends help him to win back his girlfriend, while he leads them in a spirited rebellion against the hotel's evil head nurse, Neil King and his right-hand man, McTeague. - skip ad - Genres: Comedy, Drama and Romance Running Time: 1 hr. 39 min. Release Date: May 18th, 2007 (limited) MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some crude and sexual humor and language. Distributor: ThinkFilm Cast And Credits Starring: Luke Wilson, Eva Mendes, Jacob Vargas, Owen Wilson, Harry Dean Stanton Directed by: Luke Wilson, Andrew Wilson Produced by: David Bergstein, Luke Wilson, Ray Angelic

From the cherry-picked singer-songwriter tunes on its soundtrack to the typeface of its opening title card, "The Wendell Baker Story" clearly looks to another decade as its home: the '70s, when intimate comedies could be quirky without pretense and when Harry Dean Stanton and Seymour Cassel (the co-stars and cultural good-luck charms of this picture) became familiar faces. In large part the film succeeds, feeling like a good-natured throwback, albeit one wearing a fresh-starched three-act structure whose folds couldn't be crisper if they were ironed out by a screenwriting seminar. Boxoffice prospects will depend on marketing savvy.

Writer and co-director Luke Wilson plays the title character, whose livelihood might be criminal but at least helps people in need: He sells fake ID cards to migrant workers, operating out of an Airstream trailer he calls "the Ellis Island of the Southwest." When his career lands him in jail, Baker realizes that his natural affection for people can flourish in unlikely places - he gets the Crips together with the Aryan Brotherhood, among other feats of social magic - and decides to seek post-prison work in the hospitality sector.

Wendell finds his first straight job in a retirement home whose head nurse, Neil King (Wilson's brother, Owen), is a mean-spirited version of his old self: King is skimming from the checks sent for his residents, forcing them to do his chores and threatening them with outright slavery. It falls to Wendell to set things straight, while the elders in his care help him with his own dilemma, winning back the girl who got away.

IfIf its aspirations are modest, "The Wendell Baker Story" does embody the dry wit and easy charm that has (along with Luke's looks) won the Wilsons so many fans. Filmed in their native Texas with plenty of nicely chosen local color, it is reminiscent of the brothers' "Bottle Rocket," without the self-conscious artifice that became the calling card of that film's director, Wes Anderson.
The screenplay is laced with just-right jokes that play to the cast's strengths without bending backward to be funny; for belly-laughs, viewers will have to wait for a mid-film cameo from a comedian who has popped up in a few Wilson films.

First-time directors Luke and Andrew Wilson make a fine debut. They can't coax Eva Mendes (who plays the romantic interest) out of a flat performance but are more at home with their older co-stars, who were clearly a well-known quantity to the filmmakers. The picture stumbles slightly near the end, straining to hit a couple of emotional cues, but by this point "Wendell Baker" has earned some good will. Like the altruistic ne'er-do-well it's named for, the film makes itself hard to dislike.