More of the same
If the sight of 15-year-old actors beating one another to a bloody pulp sounds like your idea of a grand time, by all means line up to see "Drillbit Taylor," an unrelentingly mean-spirited comedy in which the audience is encouraged to laugh at each new humiliation sprung upon the teenage characters.
The film is co-written by actor Seth Rogen (with Kristofor Brown), and — much like his screenplay for last summer's "Superbad" — it centers a brash-talking, overweight dweeb; his skinny, shrinking violet best friend; and the yammering nerd who functions as their third wheel. But "Superbad" at least displayed some affection for its oddball characters, whereas "Drillbit Taylor" just puts them through the ringer. (Both films were produced by "Knocked Up" director Judd Apatow.)
Over the course of 104 minutes, these hapless souls are punched, kicked, stripped naked and urinated upon, among many other indignities, by a bully whose behavior quickly crosses the line from the sociopathic to the serial killer-ish. That said bully is played by Alex Frost — best known as one of the gunmen in Gus Van Sant's reconstruction of the Columbine shootings, "Elephant" — only serves to remind the audience of the real-world problems of high school violence that "Drillbit Taylor" so glibly trades upon. Which is to say: This movie is far more depressing than it is funny.
The story begins on the first day of high school, where best friends Ryan (Troy Gentile) and Wade (Nate Hartley) are determined to become the coolest guys in the building. Instead, they soon cross paths with Filkins (Frost) and his henchman, Ronnie (Josh Peck). After Wade foolishly attempts to intervene as Filkins shoves poor Emmit (David Dorfman — the spooky kid in "The Ring" now suffering through puberty) into his locker, the bully turns on them. Within a week, all three boys are fearing for their lives.
Their solution: Hire a professional to protect them. But instead of Adam Baldwin in "My Bodyguard," they get Owen Wilson as the title character, a shifty homeless man who sees this as an opportunity to bilk these upper-middle-class kids out of some money. (The funniest bit features the kids interviewing a series of professional and semi-professional bodyguards, all of whom charge considerably more than Drillbit, who's content with $387.)
Like so many contemporary comedies, "Drillbit Taylor" doesn't make a lick of sense — starting with the fact that Los Angeles rich kids like Wade and Ryan certainly wouldn't be attending public school, much less one in which the principal is so indifferent to the violence taking place right beneath his nose. Even more puzzling is the plot twist that has Drillbit entering the school and being confused for a substitute teacher — and then returning day after day, calling himself "Dr. Illbit," and even beginning an affair with a randy English teacher named Lisa (Leslie Mann, who's too good an actress to be taking parts that give her this little to do).
Directed by Steven Brill, whose credits include two of Adam Sandler's weakest vehicles, "Little Nicky" and "Mr. Deeds," "Drillbit Taylor" turns increasingly and unnecessarily complicated: Drillbit tries to conceal his true identity from the kids, only to be betrayed by his homeless buddies, who decide to rob Wade's house. But the question of whether Drillbit will be able to redeem himself takes a back seat to the question of what sadistic sight the film will serve up next.
It's bad enough that the movie takes such merciless glee in mocking the overweight Gentile or in crafting Dorfman's character as a young homosexual in the making, who prances around wearing a T-shirt from the Broadway musical "Cats." What's more stomach-churning is the very real-seeming violence, which ends with one of the characters having his pinkie dismembered. Call me a prig, but in the age where school shootings are an all too regular occurrence, there's just no excuse for a movie like this — certainly not one that's also aimed squarely at male teenage moviegoers.
As for those who buy a ticket out of prurient interest, to see how Wilson is faring after his much-publicized personal troubles last summer, "Drillbit Taylor" offers little insight. For one thing, the movie finished shooting before Wilson's alleged suicide attempt. More to the point, he delivers yet another Owen Wilson stoner-slacker performance: faintly amusing, but mostly listless. When the movie makes a third-act bid for pathos, as Drillbit confesses to the boys his true identity, there's no emotional payoff. Wilson just looks bored and resigned — as if he's been forced by his agent to trudge through yet another typecast role. The audience feels his pain.
TITLE: “Drillbit Taylor”CAST: Owen Wilson, Leslie MannDIRECTOR: Steven BrillRATED: PG-13 (sexual references, violence, drug references, nudity)GRADE: * * (out of 5)
