Drillbit Taylor Review

Posted by Joseph Lee on 03.24.2008

You get what you pay for, indeed.



Starring:
Owen Wilson as Drillbit Taylor
Leslie Mann as Lisa
Nate Hartley as Wade
Troy Gentile as Ryan
David Dorfman as Emmit
Alex Frost as Filkins
Josh Peck as Ronnie

Story: A group of kids are being terrorized by bullies and decide to hire a bodyguard. What they get is Drillbit Taylor, who may or may not be all that he says he is. Drillbit tries to protect the kids and teach them to protect themselves while pretending to be a substitute teacher.

Fun Trivia: Adam Baldwin has a cameo has a bodyguard being interviewed. During the interview he comments on how stupid it is for a bodyguard to protect kids from bullies, all while wearing an identical costume to that he wore in the movie My Bodyguard (1980) where he played a bodyguard to protect a fellow student from a bully.

Owen Wilson has his detractors, but I think he's a funny guy. For the most part, what I've seen him in has been funny. He was great at playing the straight-man to Vince Vaughn's zaniness in Wedding Crashers and as the clueless sidekick to Ben Stiller in Zoolander. But how would he fare as the main character, co-starring with a group of kids. That's what I intended to find out in Drillbit Taylor, the latest offering from Apatow Productions (also known as the guys who brought you Superbad).

The story for Drillbit is very familiar. Kids get bulled, kids can't stand up to bullies, kids find someone who teaches them how to stand up to bullies. Every major plot element you can think of for these movies has been added and so nothing is new. In fact it's very predictable and cliche. That's what hurts this movie the most is that it's a very tried and true (but also very tired) concept. There are times, in fact, when instead of going right along with it, I was quietly calling out exactly what would happen next in my head.

What this film does have going for it is that it's lead, Owen Wilson, is able to carry the comedic role very well. A lot of his good jokes were already seen in the trailer, but there are still moments when he played Owen Wilson and was funny again. At the same time, it probably could have been anyone else (Vaughn, Ferrell, you name it) and it probably would have been just as funny. This isn't a slight on Wilson, just the nature of the role. He feels wasted in what seems like a throwaway character. In spite of that, he brings the goods and delivers an entertaining performance.

The surprising performance goes to the kids. Troy Gentile plays a PG-13 rated, younger version of Jonah Hill (and you know they would have used him if they could) and does fine. Nate Hartley looks like someone you could have went to high school with. That was good casting. The appearance of David Dorfman surprised me, as I'm used to seeing him as "that creepy kid in The Ring". He plays the typical small dork well. Josh Peck plays a bully by the book. The performance I liked from the kids was Alex Frost who played bad kid Filkins. It could have been the way the film was shot but I bought him as a mean dude and kind of creepy. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of him.

There are still some minor nitpicks. I think the writing is to blame for most of it. This movie feels like a cash in on Superbad, to start with. It may be completely different but you can almost picture Wade, Ryan and Emmit as Evan, Seth and McLovin, before they grew up a bit more. The movie feels lazy and in addition to the tired story it really has to rely on the comedic performances within to stay afloat. Luckily the kids are able to do that, with Owen Wilson guiding them. I just felt like there could have been more done here. But it's a PG-13 teen comedy, so I didn't expect too much more.

The 411: Drillbit Taylor follows the tried and true "bully vs nerd" formula and adds Owen Wilson in for laughs. What could have ended in disaster instead has a fairly entertaining comedy with a likable cast. Apatow Productions doesn't quite hit one out of the park, but a base hit is better than nothing. Don't expect too much and you should have a good time.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]