“The Baxter” has so many strikes against it-the title is the least of them-that I have put myself out finding worthy things in it. It is a hymn to low-keyed lives, and Michael Showalter-who wrote, directed, and is the star of “The Baxter”-clearly believes he has led one up to now. His character, the film’s protagonist, introduces himself in the midst of being stranded at the altar, as his bride’s once and future true love bursts into the church and sweeps her away-to the applause of the entire congregation.

This is seemingly a devastating blow to his self-esteem, but, as he quickly points out, it is merely the latest in a lifelong series of similar desertions. He tells us that his grandmother’s name for the sort of man this happens to on a regular basis is, in fact, the “Baxter.”

Yet, as we learn, he has already met a female Baxter (Michelle Williams) who is his soul mate, met her just a few minutes before the woman who just walked out on him walked in to his life for the first time. “The Baxter” is thus the story of how two colorless people meant for each other almost didn’t get together.

This is Showalter’s first feature film, and he has yet to learn the difference between an archetype and a stereotype-his peripheral characters tend to be one-dimensional representatives of a particular attitude or prejudice. They are funny the first time we meet them, but they don’t expand or develop, so they become repeating decimals.

Nevertheless, “The Baxter” is an entertaining film, in its quiet, unambitious way. If you are prepared to spend an hour and a half with some nice, not very exciting people, you can have a pretty good time. Unaccountably, the film is rated R.

COURTESY PHOTO

Caption: Rich, vibrant Caroline (Elizabeth Banks) takes a fancy to bland, shy Eliot (Michael Showalter) in “The Baxter.”