Not the sharpest tool in the pack
Every
school has at least one resident bully; and it’s a well-established
cinematic plot device for just such a bully to get his or her
comeuppance (see Revenge of the Nerds and Mean Girls
for a couple of examples). It’s no great surprise then that
the king of the nerds and hero to downtrodden males everywhere,
Judd Atapow, and his posse have come up with another likeable
if perhaps rather formulaic version of that tale in Drillbit
Taylor.
Sadly, Atapow hasn’t directed this time, taking
only a producing credit; but his influence is clear in the film’s
framework. It’s written, at least in part, by frequent Atapow
collaborator Seth Rogen; and another Knocked Up alumi, Leslie
Mann appears as a school teacher. But perhaps the biggest surprise
is that John Hughes – yes, he of The Breakfast Club
and Ferris Beuller’s Day Off – also features
in the writing credits, albeit under the rather bizarre nom de
plume Edmund Dantes.
The story has elements that will be familiar to
aficionados of both Atapow’s and Hughes’s work. Our
heroes are three dweeby kids in the first days of high school
– the skinny Wade (Nate Hartley), the chubby Ryan (Troy
Gentile) who likes to go by the name T-Dog, and the weird Emmit
(David Dorfman). Their lives at school are turned into a living
hell by the sadistic Filkins (Alex Frost) and his none-too-bright
sidekick Ronnie (Josh Peck). With their chances of even mere survival
seemingly grim, the boys decided to hire a bodyguard. The problem
for them is that the only guy they can afford is homeless guy
Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson). Drillbit convinces the kids that
he’s an ex-black-ops specialist; but they soon discover
to their cost that he’s anything but – and that his
motives are less than pure.
It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to guess
where the flick is heading; but thankfully it’s not a dreary
journey. The writing is sharp and occasionally quite perceptive;
and the direction of Steve Brill (Without a Paddle) is
brisk without being anything special.
One
thing I am a little perplexed about is that the film only scored
a PG rating. It must surely have pushed the boundaries of that
category, with virtually non-stop language, sexual references
and more than a little violence. Still, it’s mostly pretty
harmless – almost like a “lite” version of Superbad.
Sometimes it’s hard to separate cinema from
real life. After Owen Wilson’s much-publicised troubles,
it’s hard not to watch Drillbit Taylor without
at least a pang of sympathy; and perhaps an eye for signs of the
real man in the character. But such things are quickly forgotten
as this teen romp ploughs headlong into his role with typical
abandon. Perhaps he's not quite as engaging here as he can be,
but he manages to keep the production above water. As the three
kids, Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile and David Dorfman do good jobs
(even if it's not hard to see them as junior versions of the characters
in Superbad); and Alex Frost is suitably nasty as Filkins.
Drillbit Taylor isn't going to provide
a lot of surprises, but it's an engaging enough teen comedy that
thankfully largely steers clear of the kind of off-colour humour
that marks Judd Atapow's films. It certainly has its moments,
and it's good to see Owen Wilson back. It probably won't reach
the same kind of cult status as Revenge of the Nerds; but there's
enough here to make this an entertaining diversion.
David Edwards
