© 2026 WFAE

Mailing Address:
WFAE 90.7
P.O. Box 896890
Charlotte, NC 28289-6890
Tax ID: 56-1803808
90.7 Charlotte 93.7 Southern Pines 90.3 Hickory 106.1 Laurinburg
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

'The Wendell Baker Story'

An episodic comedy from the brothers Wilson (Luke, Owen, and Andrew) where the parts are more amusing than the whole. This loser-makes-good story can't decide whether it wants to be a romance, a con-man flick, or a feisty-old-coots comedy, so it settles for being each for a while and then losing interest. It starts by introducing the laid-back title slacker (Luke Wilson), a small-time dreamer who regards himself as a venture capitalist because he sells fake driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. A stint in the state pen and the loss of a gorgeous girlfriend (Eva Mendes) turns him into — oh, it doesn't really matter. Suffice it to say that Will Ferrell and Owen Wilson enliven their bits as Wendell's romantic and career obstacles, respectively, and Kris Kristofferson, Seymour Cassel and Harry Dean Stanton hold down the loveable-coot concession handily. The film's been kicking around at festivals for a couple of years now, and it has its champions. If you're in a particularly lackadaisical frame of mind, you might be one.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tags
Bob Mondello reviews movies and covers the arts for NPR and shares critiques and commentaries on NPR's award-winning newsmagazine All Things Considered.