The Wendell Baker Story

A little of the Wilsons goes a long way. The direction’s pedestrian, Owen’s support turn unappealing, and Luke’s titular lead – as a Texan chancer who reassesses his (supposedly charming) wicked ways fleecing illegal Mexican migrants after a prison spell and the desertion of his improbable long-time lover (Mendes) – profoundly marred by narcissism and a smug sense of his own anti-heroic cool. As he has his cake and eats it, helping out old-timers oppressed at a retirment home run by his (offscreen) brother, both he and the film repeatedly ignore his own advice – ‘Nobody likes a wiseass’ – while working towards an ending so risibly corny it makes nonsense of the movie’s hip pretensions. Seymour Cassel and Stanton elevate the proceedings a little, but Kris Kristofferson simply looks stranded.