THE WENDELL BAKER STORY
A morally uplifting comedy better suited to discerning adults at home.
Should You Watch It?
This is a feel-good comedy with some funny and touching moments. Its strongest idea is also its simplest: Wendell grows up. A life-long slacker and ex-con learns to become more responsible, care for others, and use his abilities for something better than another scheme.
The movie’s moral center does not erase its problems. It is completely predictable, contains plenty of foul language, and includes sexual content involving two elderly men soliciting young women who are later revealed to be underage. The source also identifies politically correct and anti-American elements connected to illegal immigration.
The practical answer: adults who are interested should wait to watch it at home, but it is not suitable for children or young teens.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESWendell Baker is an ex-con and life-long slacker whose schemes have finally caught up with him. After prison and parole, he gets a job at an elderly retirement hotel in Texas.
There, Wendell discovers that the hotel’s corrupt nursing team is exploiting its patrons. With help from several residents, he tries to bring the villains to justice while finding a direction for his own life and hoping to win back Doreen, the girl he loves.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means a modest, mixed comedy with genuine strengths. The movie has some funny moments and some touching ones, and Wendell’s growth gives the story a morally uplifting center. Its short 99-minute running time also keeps the premise moving.
But the film is completely predictable. The review says that even with its brief running time, many viewers may find themselves wondering how much longer it will last. Overall, it is predictable fare for a small independent feature.
The Worldview
The film presents a mostly mixed worldview. It includes strong moral elements as Wendell learns the importance of caring for others and changes the way he runs his life. His journey from con artist and slacker toward responsibility gives the movie a worthwhile human lesson.
At the same time, the source identifies politically correct, humanist, and anti-patriotic elements surrounding illegal immigration. Wendell’s creation of fake identification cards for illegal immigrants and the movie’s comments about immigration reform shape that perspective. The film also contains brief Christian references at a wake and in an obituary, along with pro-capitalist, Romantic, and humanist elements.
The movie’s central longing is for a person to become responsible and use his life to help others. Scripture says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Mostly mixed pagan worldview with some strong moral elements as life-long slacker/ex-con learns lessons about the importance of caring for others, mixed with some politically correct, humanist and anti-patriotic elements as man makes fake I.D. cards for illegal immigrants in Texas, this includes some comments about the current political views on immigration reform and one comment that “Mexico is what the U.S. could’ve been,” very brief Christian elements at a wake when man states that the woman who has passed away is now “in a better place” and another man makes reference in an obituary that a friend has been “called home by the Lord,” plus some pro-capitalist, Romantic and humanist elements; 22 mostly light obscenities and 14 profanities, also several substitute words such as, “darn,” and one man makes crude gestures at another man; very light violence includes Wendell is punched by a father who thinks his son is being molested (although Wendell is only lifting the boy up so he can reach the urinal), another man punches Wendell, and an older woman shoots a shotgun at Wendell in a very comedic chase scene; sexual content includes some unmarried kissing, in a dream Wendell’s girlfriend is seen lying in bed beside another man, two old men solicit younger women that we later learn are underage, and those same underage women are used to set the villains up to be caught by the police; nudity includes some naturalistic upper male nudity, one man shown in boxer shorts and some female cleavage; alcohol use includes people taking shots of hard liquor as well as some scenes of beer drinking; some cigarette use and Wendell smokes cheap cigars in several scenes; and, miscellaneous immorality includes a head nurse (Owen Wilson) who illegally “takes a cut” of his patient’s MediCare checks and sells their prescription medicines on the black market and several scenes of men urinating including little boy who urinates on Wendell’s shoe.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Wendell’s life changes when he begins accepting responsibility and caring for others. Where do you need to move from self-interest toward faithful service?
Galatians 6:2 · Philippians 2:3–4The nursing team exploits elderly patients for money and medicine. What responsibilities do people have toward those who depend on their care?
Proverbs 31:8–9 · James 1:27Wendell’s past includes making fake identification cards for illegal immigrants. How should Christians pursue justice while also treating every person with dignity?
Micah 6:8 · Matthew 22:39The film includes a romantic hope of winning back Doreen. What does genuine change look like when trust has been damaged?
Ephesians 4:22–24 · Luke 3:8The Final Word
This modest comedy has a worthwhile moral center, but its predictability, foul language, and crude sexual content make it a poor family choice. Adults who are still interested should wait for home and use discernment. WAIT FOR HOME — ADULTS ONLY. Consider these alternatives instead:
