REEL CRITIC:'Baker' is funny, has great talent

"The Wendell Baker Story" reminded me of some Wilson brothers' film efforts of the past, most notably "Bottle Rocket," their breakout film from several years ago, and of course "Rushmore," which is probably the best film they were involved with so far.

But, I don't feel that it quite holds up to either of those two efforts and it is difficult to recommend without qualification, but I did enjoy this film very much. The humor is dry and goofy, with more than a few laugh-out-loud moments, and as the credits came up at the screening I attended, scattered applause erupted from the audience.

Wendell Baker (Luke Wilson) is a small-time chiseler who lives in his own little world where he and his partner Reyes (Jacob Vargas) manufacture bogus identification cards for illegal immigrants. Business is doing quite well for these two knuckleheads until they are, of course, apprehended and we follow Wendell into jail.

Wendell finds a Conrad Hilton self-help book in the prison library and decides to go into hotel management (did I say goofy?) and upon his release, falls in with Owen Wilson, who as evil nurse Neil King, is running a slave-labor racket from the old folks' home he oversees.

Wendell also spends a lot of time trying to win back his girlfriend Doreen, played by the sexy and beautiful Eva Mendes. Doreen is enough to drive any man to distraction and she makes matters worse for poor Wendell when she dumps him in favor of Dave Bix (Will Ferrell), another dorky screwball who is running a corner grocery store or something.

Ferrell does a great job of stealing every scene he is in and the only problem with his performance is that there isn't enough of it. Especially funny is a scene where Ferrell conveys his frustration with Wendell via a series of facial expressions and hand gestures that left the audience in a shambles.

Also featured are Seymour Cassell, who many will remember as the aging barber/single dad from "Rushmore," and Harry Dean Stanton, who play two of the old geezers from the rest home. In one hilarious scene, the two gents happen upon a couple of charming teenage girls who they somehow manage to seduce using guile, trickery, and, in the case of Stanton, a dead pan expression. Much of the charm of this film is brought out in the excellent Country and Western sound track that assists in scene segues and action scenes where dialogue is either inappropriate or unnecessary.

Songs by Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Jackson Browne keep the feeling moving right along and my first thought upon exiting the theater was "where can I get the CD?"

Rated PG-13 for some raunchy humor and a few well-placed curse words, "The Wendell Baker Story" has a running time of one hour and 39 minutes.