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Wendell Baker Story (The)
R1 - America - ThinkFilm Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak/Chrisana Love (17th December 2007). |
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The Film
 Written by, produced by, directed by (with his brother Andrew, the unknown Wilson), and starring (as we can only assume: himself) Luke Wilson, it seems to confirm the suspicion that he's perfected the slacker role because he is too lazy play anything else... Wendell Baker is a good 'ol Southern boy, unable to commit to a regular job he sells fake drivers licenses' to would be Mexican immigrants from a supped up trailer parked near the border. He is unsurprisingly caught, put away (where he cements his hustler-with-a-heart-of-gold role by casually uniting the black inmates with the Aryan brotherhood) although in the process he loses his girl Doreen (Eva Mendes who appears to have been cast purely for her Mexican-esque looks) who becomes fed up with his characteristically laid back attitude towards her. On his return he is placed in employment in an old folk's home where he discovers a scandal: head nurse Neil King (Owen Wilson), and his sidekick McTeague (Eddie Griffin), gives some of the oldsters the "greyhound treatment" placing a false obituary he sends them off to his mother's farm and continues to collect their Medicare payments. With the help of some of the codgers, he saves those "put to pasture", wins back his girl and in a fortuitous turn of events, with the help of the actually-quite-wealthy resident recluse Nasher (Kris Kristofferson) winds up managing a luxury hotel. With the casting of Harry Dean Stanton, Seymour Cassel and Kristofferson (as a Howard Hughes like character) this movie is almost worth watching. Although they are all woefully underused (this is Luke Wilson's film) most of the real laughs are generated by their playful interaction (look out for the scene where Cassel tells a young woman he could find her G spot in 5 seconds...10 max, featuring Stanton in a "One Nation Under A Groove" shirt). Wilson has obviously picked up a thing or two from his regular collaborators (this has an attempt at the detached, low key humor of Wes Anderson). This does rise above many of the "Frat Pack's" offerings of late. Showcasing an excellent soundtrack (featuring Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and even a song sung by Harry Dean Stanton) some fantastic cinematography of the Wilson's native Texas and clearly going for the late 70's character driven loosely plotted narrative, this actually had some potential. Had anyone stepped in to edit the meandering script and perhaps provide some instruction in directing real actors this could have worked. Essentially it comes across as a Wilson brother's in-joke. The film, its protagonist and its maker can all be surmised as one: sweet, funny, but ultimately a little too laid back.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this anamorphic transfer is not the best, the image suffers from some grain and is also a bit soft at times. Colors are nice and bold and rich. Skin tones appear natural but black levels are a bit noisy as there is some compression artefacts as well. Overall not the best but certainly far from the worst, I'd say its average.
Audio
A single English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track is included, this being a comedy there isn't much use for an active surround mix in fact a stereo or 2.0 surround option could have done the job. On the plus side the dialogue is clear and distortion free and the music comes across well as there's some minor ambient sound in the rear channels but mostly it's a bit front heavy. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Extras
Think Film has provided a few extras that include an audio commentary, bonus scenes, two featurettes, a music performance, a photo gallery and the film's theatrical trailer plus bonus trailers and an insert. Below is a closer look at these supplements. The major extra is a feature-length audio commentary by co-directors Luke Wilson and Andrew Wilson. Although both are credited on this track Andrew says something only once throughout this track, that's it. Luke primarily takes us through the entire film. In this track he comments on the various scenes and provides background on the production, including the location shooting in Austin, Texas, working with the cast and also mainly comments on the moments they captured in the scenes. There are gaps of silence as it's not a continuous stream of information. Luke seems to have a wonderful knowledge of Austin as the majority of his comments are in regards to the locations, he's quite dry and unfortunately the track does get a bit boring so a finger on the fast-forward button is advised. Following that is "Afternoon at Luke's with Harry Dean Stanton and Seymour Cassel" featurette which runs for 21 minutes 27 seconds, Andrew and Luke pick up these actors for an afternoon lunch at Luke's house, during this time they talk about their careers and background as well as their experiences in working on this film and in Hollywood in general. "Making Wendell Baker: On Location with the Wilson's" is a featurette that runs for 13 minutes 38 seconds, in this clip we get a look at how the idea for the film came about, plus a look at the shooting process son location in Texas as the cast and crew talk about the film and working with each other and most importantly the Wilson's and how much fun it was. There are 8 bonus scenes which can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' option and include: - "Wendell the Baptist" runs for 1 minute 9 seconds, Doreen reminds Wendell of his failed projects. - "Paintball" runs for 44 seconds, the paperboy gets his revenge on Wendell. - "Wendell and Reyes" runs for 1 minute 28 seconds, Wendell talks to Reyes as he tries to get back all he lost and gives Wendell the truck he fixed. - "The Grocery Clerk" runs for 1 minute 9 seconds, Wendell talks with the clerk at Doreen's shop. - "Wendell and Doreen" runs for 1 minute 32 seconds, outside the shop they talk about their relationship and why they can't be together anymore. - "Museum Trip" runs for 1 minute 15 seconds, Wendell takes the retired folks on a field trip. - "Boyd and Skip" runs for 1 minute 39 seconds, Skip tries to make Boyd feel better after learning his family signed him to the retirement home. - "Heading Out" runs for 58 seconds, Wendell, Skip, Boyd and Nasher pick up Reyes. Next is "The Wendell Baker Photo Album' clip which runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds and is a reel of photographs taken during the film's production. There's also a special musical performance by Billy Joe Shaver that runs for 3 minutes 16 seconds and is basically a clip of the song 'Live Forever'. Also featured on this disc is the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 2 minutes 19 seconds. Rounding out the extras are a series of bonus trailers for: - "In the Shadow of the Moon" which runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds. - "Bordertown" which runs for 2 minutes 14 seconds. - "Pigs" which runs for 1 minute 43 seconds. - "Farce of the Penguins" which runs for 2 minutes 21 seconds. - "Strangers with Candy" which runs for 2 minutes 26 seconds. Included in the case is a 1-page insert with a message from Wendell Baker in the style of a post card.
Overall
The film has been reviewed by Chrisana Love, technical specs and extras have been reviewed by Noor Razzak.
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