john linzetti Watched it last night for the first time. Although it wasn't "slapstick" humor, I still felt it was thoroughly enjoyable. In fact, it seemed almost like a breath of fresh air. Not as formulaic as a lot of other comedies out there, thank goodness. I especially enjoyed Luke's character of Wendell Baker. He comes across as being forever boyish until he does experience loss in his life. Harry Stanton and Seymour Cassel really do bring a unique air to the film, being septuagenarians with a fervid love of life. Kristofferson's character I felt could have used a bit more development, but is overall well acted nonetheless.The soundtrack to this movie really helped a lot. If it had to be called a flavor, I'd call it "Texas BarBQ"...flavorful, colorful and spicy. Very unique.In short, this would be the kind of movie you could watch with your family and not be embarrassed.

brendan-95 I really wanted to like this movie as I'm a big fan of Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and Bottle Rocket. However, this film was just poorly put together. I kept expecting it to get better but gave up after about an hour. I'm still in shock from the amateur look and feel of this flick. The Owen brothers have done such quality work in the past. How could this have happened? Why was the film released in this condition? Somebody must have dropped something in the brother's coffee because these guys can do much better. I did enjoy the roles for Harry Dean Stanton and Seymour Cassel. Their acting redeemed the movie a bit and made me keep watching. Eddie Griffin and Owen Wilson, surprisingly, don't do a very good job with their characters. I was very disappointed but I still have faith that the brothers will release a quality film the next go round.

katzfilm-1 In the first reel of "The Wendell Baker Story" there are many exterior and interior shots of what I reckon to be a '54 Spartan Royal Mansion. The movie was set and shot in and around Austin Texas so the vintage mobile home sports Texas plates. It was nice to see the old bird under tow (by a mid-80s El Camino, I think) though it was distressing to see the leading man swing a golf club inside the coach (what I could see of the interior past a heavy, goofy set decoration, was definitely unrestored and kinda rough) and play for laughs the joke of his 9 iron crunching into and getting stuck in a birch wood ceiling panel. Even though the vintage coach in this movie wasn't a beautifully restored specimen (of which there are many available) or a vintage coach preserved in original condition, still it was thrilling to see a mid-fifties Spartan featured in the movie as a key set piece. What caused me to groan out loud in the theater was the leading man, with the exquisite curves of his Spartan Aircraft Company trailer fleshing out the near background,refer to it as an Airstream. To the production designer's (or art director's) credit, the movie was an ode to vintage aluminum, for also featured in this movie was a beautiful polished vintage twin beech aircraft, the progenitor of the airframe construction technique -- aluminum skin riveted to aluminum studs --used by Spartan Aircraft Co. to such great effect for more than forty years. And continuing the aluminum theme, in a much shorter appearance, a shiny Haliburton valise was used as a key prop.I don't know if this light and entertaining movie about a quirky character is still in release in your neighborhood, but I'd be a terrific DVD rental. Even if you are not a vintage trailer fan, take a look at this well made little picture.Spartanaciously, Michael Katz

ljolson I saw the Wendell Baker Story last weekend at the Vail film festival and thought it was a charming, funny, truly enjoyable movie. It was very different from Luke Wilson's work with Owen Wilson & Wes Anderson, but in a great way. The quirkiness of Anderson's films was evident, but there was an added tenderness and empathy between the characters, which says a lot about the quality of the script, the direction, and the acting. Luke Wilson was very appealing in the title role--his face is so expressive! As always, Owen Wilson & Will Ferrell were hysterical. I'd recommend this movie to anyone who likes not only the Owen/Anderson combination, but to anyone who likes romantic comedies. (I must mention, and I hope this doesn't sound derogatory, the scenery in the film made me want to visit Texas for the first time ever.)