The Wendell Baker Story: Synopsis

Wendell Baker (Luke Wilson) is a good-hearted conman whose latest scam lands him in jail and alienates him from everyone he loves, including his longtime girlfriend Doreen (Eva Mendes), his best friend Reyes (Jacob Vargas), and even his devoted dog, Junior.

Eternally optimistic, Wendell makes the most of his time behind bars and vows to turn his life around. Upon release, he gets a job at the Shady Grove Retirement Hotel, where he befriends residents Boyd (Seymour Cassel), Skip (Harry Dean Stanton) and Nasher (Kris Kristofferson). Wendell's new friends help him to win back his girlfriend, while he leads them in a spirited rebellion against the hotel's evil head nurse, Neil King (Owen Wilson) and his right-hand man, McTeague (Eddie Griffin).

Smart, sweet, hip, and engaging, THE WENDELL BAKER STORY celebrates the precipitous fall and rise of an oxymoronic movie hero - a winning loser who follows his own path. Baker, played by Luke Wilson, one of the screen's most appealing leading men, is a bundle of contradictions. A lovable con man with high ambitions and low energy, Baker likes to dream and scheme about tomorrow, without paying any attention to the realities of today. He embarks on a great comic misadventure that in a sometimes roundabout, but always entertaining, way, leads straight to happy endings. THE WENDELL BAKER STORY boasts a cast of both young and veteran talents, including Eva Mendes, Owen Wilson, Jacob Vargas, Seymour Cassel, Harry Dean Stanton, Kris Kristofferson, Charles Sanders, Eddie Griffin, and Will Ferrell. The film was co-directed by Luke Wilson (who also wrote the script) and his brother Andrew Wilson.

A coming-of-age story featuring a perpetually immature adult, THE WENDELL BAKER STORY evokes the wonderfully offbeat and atmospheric classics of the seventies, such as "The Last Detail," "Harold and Maude," "One Flew over the Cukoo's Nest," and "Shampoo."