The Wendell Baker Story (2005)
This quirky mess from the Texan
Wilson brothers, Owen, Luke and filmmaker Andrew,
isn't as successful as their first film, "Bottle Rocket,"
which put them on the map. There's a real palpable
smugness in the film, a sort of, "look at me - ain't
I something" quality that makes it very difficult
to become engages in the story and the characters.
And even though we eventually do grow to like the
titular character, the film never becomes a cohesive
piece that we can really cheer about.
Luke is cast in the lead and he
plays a character that goes all over the map. He starts
out as a smug bastard, so it is pretty difficult to
like him. However, when he is on screen with romantic
interest Eva Mendes, we sort of like him better. Mendes
saves the first 20 minutes of this film from being
lost on the audience. We only stick around because
we like her.
The film travels from "smug asshole"
story to "prison" story to heartwarming retirement
home story and then swings into romantic comedy. This
film is all over the place and director Andrew is
either incapable or disinterested in pulling it all
together. We get the idea that he thinks he is making
a funny, quirky film here. But Wes Anderson he is
not. He seems powerless to keep his brothers in check,
particularly Owen who blows off his work in this film
as if he were in some Hollywood piece of crap. You'd
think he'd work harder for his brother to help him
kick-start his career but he is apparently more interested
in getting to the bar at the end of the day's shoot.
The best part of the film is when
Will Ferrell comes on screen. Ferrell is hilarious
and a master at improvisation and his work here is
as affable and as likeable as anything else he has
done. It's a treat when he shows up here.
But Ferrell cannot save this mess.
Nor can the charm of Luke. Nor can the quaintness
of having Harry Dean Stanton, Seymour Cassel and Kris
Kristofferson in the piece. The whole damn thing just
falls apart. And the only thing worse than the ever-changing
mood, theme, tone and plot of the film is the Godawful
cinematography by Steve Mason. The DP has shot nearly
20 films but this stuff looks like it was lensed by
a film school dropout. In Mason's hands, this becomes
a grainy, washed-out and cheap looking film.
Like the recently released "Man
of the House" with Tommy Lee Jones, "The Wendell
Baker Story" seems to relish the fact it was shot
in Austin. It features a montage of Austin images
at the beginning that include the capitol building
and the UT clock tower. For those of you from elsewhere,
let me explain a little bit about the awesome city
where I live that may replace some of the wrong opinions
you may have gotten if you watch either of these films:
1. Cheerleaders rarely go to see
Asleep at the Wheel play.
2. Not everyone who lives in Austin
has a Willie Nelson t- shirt.
3. Not everyone who lives in Austin
has a Willie Nelson CD.
4. Not everyone who lives in Austin
likes bluesy Texas country music.
5. The border is six hours from
here. You can't drive there every day pulling an Airstream
trailer.
6. The Rio Grande is wider than
the Blanco in Wimberely. Much wider.
7. Not everyone in Austin enjoys
the music made by a Spanish guitar.
Austin is a great town. And it is
a great town for films. I'll be glad when someone
from Hollywood comes here and makes a big budget film
where you don't see UT or the Capitol, you don't have
to listen to Willie Nelson and other country music
on the soundtrack, and you don't see hot chicks in
Willie Nelson t-shirts. Then I'll know that Austin
has emerged as the filmmaking mecca that it deserves
to become. Until then I guess we will all have to
endure half-assed, goofy, pretentious and unbalanced
films like "The Wendell Baker Story."
Notes:
Also with Eddie Griffin and Billy
Joe Shaver.
There are no opening credits in
the film except for the title.
Written by Luke, who also directed
with Andrew. Luke has been working on the script for
several years.
Franchise Pictures seems to have
picked up the film.
Okay, I usually don't notice continuity
errors unless they are glaring. The handicapped tag
in the old car when Luke, Cassel and Stanton are riding
in the country disappears when they get to Mendes'
house.
Viewed in March 2005 at the SXSW
Film Festival. This was the opening night film and
the "World Premier" of the film.
