Drillbit Taylor (Unrated Extended Survival Edition) DVD Review
Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 07.01.2008
They might have well called this one Superbad: The Prequel
Directed by: Steven Brill Written by: Kristofer Brown & Seth Rogan
Starring: Owen Wilson - Bob "Drillbit" Taylor Troy Gentile - Ryan Nate Hartley - Wade David Dorfman - Emmit Osterman Alex Frost - Terry Filkins Leslie Mann - Lisa Vacci Valerie Tian - Brooke Danny R. McBride - Don Josh Peck - Ronnie Lampanelli Stephen Root - Principal Doppler Ian Roberts - Jim Lisa Lampanelli - Mrs. Lampanelli Lisa Ann Walter - Ryan's Mom Hynden Walch - Mrs. Osterman Beth Littleford - Barbara Steve Bannos - Coffee Computer Guy Chuck Liddell - Himself Robert Allen Mukes - Bonecrusher Adam Baldwin - Ricky Linderman
DVD Release Date: 7/1/2008 Running Time: 109 minutes
Rated PG-13 for crude sexual references throughout, strong bullying, language, drug references and partial nudity
Judd Apatow is considered by many to be the man who is bringing comedy back to form in a big way these days. Truth to tell, he’s been working in the movie industry since the early 1990’s, taking his desire for a comedic career behind the camera to produce friend Ben Stiller’s critically-lauded yet failed sketch television show. From there, he moved on to become a writer and producer for The Larry Sanders Show, earning six Emmy nominations. Along the way, he produced the middling Jim Carrey movie The Cable Guy as well as the acclaimed and short-lived series’ Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. It wasn’t until the middle of this decade, however, that Apatow hit his stride. He produced the Will Farrell starring vehicle Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, which was an enormous success. That was followed up with his first directing gig, The 40 Year Old Virgin, which he also co-wrote. Since then, hit after hit has followed his involvement in films, including Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Superbad and Knocked Up. His first failure in the string, at least commercially, was the biopic parody Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, which failed to find an audience despite good reviews. His next job was producing Drillbit Taylor. Starring Owen Wilson in a comedy about high school bullies, it seemed like a sure-fire hit; unfortunately, critics turned away from it and so did audiences. After failing to make its budget back, it quickly left theaters; now, three months later, it gets another try to find an audience with an Unrated, “Extended Survival Edition” DVD.
The Movie
The film starts off on the night before the first day of high school for perennial losers Ryan (Gentile) and Wade (Hartley), as they talk on the phone about their great plans for starting a new school. Ryan, a rap enthusiast, wants to be referred to as “T-Dog” in school from now on, because it sounds cool. After a few snipes at each other about their reasons for being outcasts (Ryan is overweight, Wade is gangly and thin), they’re forced to end the call and go to bed. The next day they show up for the bus wearing the same Hot Topic shirts, and the disaster first day begins. Along the way, they encounter Terry Filkins (Frost), an emancipated minor who’s the local bully, and his lackey Ronnie Lampanelli (Peck, playing comedienne Lisa Lampenelli’s fictional son) picking on fellow freshman dork Emmitt. Wade steps in, bringing Filkins’s and Ronnie’s hazing onto him and Ryan and earning a friend in Emmitt in the process. A series of cruel hazings go on from there, which only get worse after a disastrous attempt to bring the problem to the attention of the principal (Root). Desperate and with nowhere to go after Filkins chases them down with his car one afternoon, they look to hire a bodyguard. Unfortunately for them, they get Drillbit Taylor (Wilson).
Drillbit describes himself to the kids as an ex-Army black ops specialist, kicked out because, as he put it, "They say it’s an Army of One in the commercials, but they don’t mean it." In reality, though, Drillbit is a homeless military vet who lives in the hills of Santa Monica, showers naked on the beach every day, and spends the rest of the day collecting handouts from commuters or talking with his fellow homeless folks about plans that will never come to fruition. He takes the job from the kids so he can finally make good on one of them and travel to Canada. His original plan is to steal a bunch of stuff from their homes and pawn it off, but when that doesn’t go over, he decides to, as his “friend” Don (McBride) suggests, “milk the cash cow.” He starts to teach the kids some half-hearted defense techniques that are doomed to failure and whatever else he can think of to stall them. Eventually, he uses an inadvertently-gained cover as a substitute at their school to keep an eye on them, make Filkins’s life hell, and woo English teacher Lisa (Mann). As time approaches for a confrontation, things get messed up as only such a comedy can, and the kids and Drillbit have a lot of learning to do if they’re going to make it through all right.
Drillbit Taylor is written by Kristofer Brown & Seth Rogan, and Rogan’s influence on the film is obvious. The film has a very Superbad feel to it, though not quite as funny. It all seems too familiar, from the characters—Ryan, Wade, and Emmitt seem largely like doubles of Seth, Evan, and McLovin—to the jokes. When Ryan says “Don’t call me Ryan anymore; call me T-Dog,” it elicits not a laugh, but a groan, because we’ve heard this joke before. The plot and its gags are simultaneously thin and predictable, as they run through about every joke in the Rogan/Apatow playbook, and you can see what’s coming a mile away on every plot point. Rogan is a competent scriptwriter, and capable of being funny; in this, he and Brown seem to be willing to sit back and be lazy, relying on what’s worked before.
It doesn’t help that the opening act is rather lopsided, as director Steven Brill has the unenviable task of balancing the introduction of the kids with the interspersed introduction of Drillbit. It’s a tough balancing act, and it doesn’t pay off correctly. Eventually, the film does settle into a decent rhythm, but it’s very late into the film that this happens, about midway into the second act. It has a lot to make up for at this point, and while it tries admirably, it doesn’t quite pull it off. Part of this is due to the fact that we know what’s coming, having seen this sort of plot a hundred times before. Rogan and Brown throw a couple of much appreciated curveballs at us, but it seems like to little, too late.
The shame of this is that the performances of the actors deserve far better then the men behind the camera gave them. Owen Wilson was the perfect actor to cast in the role of Drillbit. The characterization Wilson provides is not far-removed from his usual performances, but it works far better here then it did in other failed efforts, such as You, Me and Dupree or The Big Bounce. Wilson makes a lovable loser, someone who you can believe starts off as entirely selfish and moves on to a much more conscientious individual by the end of the film. No other actor would have been the right fit here; Wilson may just be bringing his usual game to the table, but his usual game is—if nothing else—a very natural, believable comedy. Opposite Wilson are the three teen leads in Troy Gentile, Nate Hartley, and David Dorfman. All three have a lot of charm to them, as does the affinity they manage to build with Wilson. Dorfman has some of the best classic comedy as Emmitt, and he plays it off strong without hamming it up. Gentile also has a lot to work with; Hartley has a bit less so in the less flashy role of the foil for the others, but he carries it off well. As bully, Filkins, Alex Frost seems to be channeling his best Marshal Mathers impression; he even spends most of his time in a black hoodie. He pulls off Filkins’s semi-psychotic menace nicely, and makes it believable that this kid could be someone the entire school is scared of. Great supporting performances come from Mann (Apatow’s wife and a regular in his films) as Lisa, McBride as the homeless villain Don, and Root as Principal Doppler.
Brill, for his part, has a difficult situation to work with—but then again, he’s no stranger to uneven, lopsided and predictable scripts. He does far better with this film then he has in previous directorial efforts such as Without a Paddle or Little Nicky; perhaps his experience is starting to pay off. He knows when to sit back and let the actors do their thing, and when to guide them. Beyond this however, he makes very standard and safe choices as a director, and it sort of ties the safety gloves on in a way that makes the movie feel too restrained. One gets the sense that this could have been a far more enjoyable film if he had taken a few more chances; if any of the men behind it had taken more chances. As it is, even this unrated version just seems incredibly tame and toothless.
Film Rating: 5.5
The Video
Presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen format, enhanced of course for 16:9 widescreen televisions, there’s nothing to complain about here. The transfer is as solid as you would expect from Paramount, with a clear resolution and strong colors. This isn’t a movie where the limits of the transfer or the compression will be tested, but it’s all perfectly decent. Subtitle options are English, Spanish, or French.
Video Rating: 8.0
The Audio
The 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtracks, available in English, Spanish, or French, are pretty nice, and while again this doesn’t test the limits of the technology, there’s little to complain about. The leveling of the sounds across dialogue, score, and ambient effects is nicely done, and it never seems too quiet or too loud. You can’t ask for more then that.
Audio Rating: 8.0
Special Features
Audio Commentary by Steven Brill, Kristofer Brown, Troy Gentile, Nate Hartley, and David Dorfman: As audio commentaries go, this isn’t really the best. It starts off with just Brill and Brown, and there are a few pauses early on in the commentary. Eventually it settles into a more even-handed and enjoyable talk, particularly when they bring in the three teen actors. They prattle on a bit and get off-course, but it’s fun to listen to their camaraderie. Not the greatest commentary ever, though not horrible.
The Writers Get a Chance to Talk: (13:59) This feature is, essentially, a phone call between writers Kristofer Brown & Seth Rogan, talking rather frankly about the process of writing the film and the changes to the script due to studio concerns. They note very candidly about how the first act feels very choppy due to changes demanded by the studio. Rogan talks, after prompting from Brown, about how he wrote the rap battle portion, and both writers discuss how the studio was resistant to the idea of the kids actually fighting Filkins in the end. They then drift off into a discussion of Rambo and joke that the sequel should be a Drillbit/Rambo crossover. It's a very nice feature with some insight you don't usually see on DVD's about studio meddling.
Deleted/Extended Scenes: (17:02) The deleted stuff here is, like many deleted scenes, largely extraneous side-stuff, though some of it is admittedly quite funny. There’s an extended version of the bathroom hazing scene with Emmitt, some scenes of Drillbit making the bullies’ lives hell in school, and, as a particularly funny bit, the full version of the interview with the hip-hop styling, country-loving bodyguard played by Da'Vone McDonald. None of it was needed in the movie, but they’re good to watch as separate scenes.
Line-O-Rama: (4:25) This is the standard Line-O-Rama that comes on most of the Apatow-associated DVD’s. Essentially, it’s alternate takes of scenes that feature a bunch of lines that were ad-libbed by the actors. A lot of them are pretty funny, and frankly better then what’s in the movie.
Gag Reel: (4:07) This gag reel is, thankfully more then just the usual bunch of flubbed lines and actors cracking up. A few technical glitches, stumblings and trips with the physical comedy, and the like show up, and it’s not too bad.
Rap-Off: (3:38) This is the first of five shorts available only on the Extended Survival Edition, all but one of which are about three minutes long and more behind-the-scenes then a promotional piece. This one is a featurette that documents the rap battle. We see a bit of practice Troy Gentile was put through to learn the lines and get the flow down, and the filming as well.
Sprinkler Day: (3:27) This one is a similar behind-the-scenes piece, without much in the way of interviews or the link, about setting up the scene where the fire alarm goes off in the school. What comes off as evident in these behind the scenes things is that the actors are clearly enjoying themselves in the production, which is nice to see.
Bully: (3:02) This one shows a lot of Alex Frost and Josh Peck, the bullies, messing around and having fun. We see the filming of some of their scenes tormenting the three teen leads, and some outtakes as well.
Directing Kids: (3:04) A very tongue-in-cheek bit, this short features director Steven Brill talking some joking trash about his young cast and pretending to beat them around a bit. It settles briefly into the more standard complimentary talk before flipping back to the kidding stuff.
The Real Don: Danny McBride: (5:47) This is basically an interview with Danny McBride, who plays Don, intercut with footage of Don and Drillbit from the film. McBride clearly has a great sense of humor and comes off as well in this feature as he does in the film.
Previews: (6:21) We get previews of The Spiderwick Chronicles, the teaser trailer for J.J. Abrams’s upcoming Star Trek reboot, and the full trailer for Iron Man.
Features Rating: 7.0
The 411: Judd Apatow and Seth Rogan have taken comedy by storm in recent years, with a series of critically lauded and commercially successful hits. Drillbit Taylor is not one of them. A lazy script that relies on what's worked before makes this film feel like a prequel to Superbad, and director Steven Brill takes the consistently safe route throughout, making the entire movie feel like a tame retread. Even good performances by Owen Wilson, Troy Gentile, David Dorfman, and Nate Hartley can’t raise this film into the good category. A good audio and video transfer and some fun special features raise it up to average, but this one is most definitely a rental unless you’re a hardcore Apatow, Rogan or Wilson fan.
