Given Luke Wilson's affability, it's also irresistibly charming. You may not buy the film's plot, but you'll invest in him as a man whose heart is always in the right place.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 8, 2007

I think it's one of the worst movies of the year. I think it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

Full Review | May 21, 2007

Here's something satisfying: '70s-cinema fetishism with the courage of its convictions.

| Original Score: 4/6 | May 19, 2007

I hate to sound like a disappointed parent, but I expected more from Luke Wilson.

| Original Score: 1.5/5 | May 18, 2007

Though the first Wilson brothers' effort, Bottle Rocket, is far superior, the trio of brothers working together creates a light and enjoyable comic romp.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 18, 2007

Though the Wilsons are no threat to the Coens as filmmakers, The Wendell Baker Story is still a pleasingly human-scaled alternative to the big, soulless Hollywood blockbusters.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 18, 2007

A shiny shell of a movie, TWBS is pretty to look at, and occasionally fun to watch. But ultimately, it's an exercise in futility -- for the participants, who can do so much more, and the audience, which deserves so much better.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 18, 2007

As much as it looks like an enjoyable project to work on and a blast for all involved, the feeling you get watching The Wendell Baker Story is that you probably had to be there.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | May 18, 2007

The movie undercuts whatever good graces it has generated with a feel-good ending that is just stunningly stupid. It's hard to be hip when your finale is so square.

| Original Score: D | May 18, 2007

The story doesn't matter as much as the genial good-time vibe.

Full Review | May 18, 2007

This shambling, good-natured comedy is a Wilson family affair.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 18, 2007

The Wendell Baker Story, although good-natured, tries too hard to replicate the squirreliness of a Wes Anderson film, while declining to partake of its sadness and irony.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 17, 2007

The Wendell Baker Story just feels like an attempt to rebottle the postmodern fizz of Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket. I wish instead they'd put a stopper in it.

| Original Score: C- | May 16, 2007

Low-key to comatose, Wendell Baker might have been improved were it shot in 16mm black and white.

Full Review | May 15, 2007

The Wilsons can't even tell a been-there-done-that story of a con artist who gets his comeuppance without calling it The Wendell Baker Story, as if the character belongs, by virtue of his Wilsonian pedigree, on a pedestal.

| May 14, 2007

The Wilsons' venture was shot in Austin, the global center of slackerology, and has barely summoned the energy to leave the place.

| May 14, 2007

If its nostalgia is a bit creaky, it's nonetheless also delivered with great heart.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 14, 2007

At once insouciantly laid back and beguilingly loony.

Full Review | Apr 23, 2007

A little of the Wilsons goes a long way.

| Jun 24, 2006

If 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.

Full Review | Apr 23, 2005