‘Drillbit Taylor’ cons nerds, viewers

by Christine Bohn

Monday, March 24, 2008 00:00

Considering Judd Apatow directed “Knocked Up” and Seth Rogen was the screenwriter for “Superbad,” it would seem that combining these two minds to create “Drillbit Taylor” would result in nothing less than perfection. After actually viewing this sad attempt at film, however, it’s blaringly obvious that even these great comedic forces can disappoint viewers.

The plot of “Drillbit Taylor” is a simple one. Wade (Nate Hartley, television’s “Unfabulous”), Ryan aka T-dawg (Troy Gentile, “Good Luck Chuck”), and Emmit (David Dorfman, “The Ring Two”) play typical geeks striving to stay afloat during their first few weeks of high school. Their reputations as geeks are immediately defined after they arrive at their first day of school wearing the same shirt. As a result, the school bully (Alex Frost, “Stop Loss”) decides to make the “Siamese queers” (as he calls them) his new geek targets. While completing typical hazing activities such as shoving the smallest geek into a locker, Frost’s character takes it a step further, threatening the boys’ lives with a samurai sword, thus making the movie PG-13 for “strong bullying.” In steps Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson, “The Darjeeling Limited”) to act as the nerds’ personal bodyguard — who also kindly steals random items from their homes.

Playing this war veteran turned highway bum recently turned con artist, Wilson isn’t able to portray the movie’s main character, Drillbit, in a convincing manner. But who could blame him, especially when his character claims himself an “improvisational weapons expert”? While he goes through the motions in this film, Wilson’s credits are filled with better roles (Anyone remember the infamous Hansel in “Zoolander”?).

As for the plot, this tale of nerds striving to stay afloat in a world of bullies is something everyone should be able to relate to, but awkwardly cannot in this film. Yet, while the plot is unable to create an emotional connection with its audience, the jokes aren’t funny either, not to mention that it’s painfully easy to tell when the writer tried to invoke laughs from the audience. But, since no one did, it made the movie miserably uncomfortable to sit through.

A few critics have dubbed this movie “Superbad’s little brother.” If by little brother, they meant fraternal twin but missing a funny bone, then it’s easy to agree. Not only does the movie take place in a high school setting, but it also has a tall, lanky dork boy and a short, chubby smartass with curly hair. Sound familiar? However, the similarities come to a screeching halt here, and “Drillbit Taylor” suffers for it.

Overall, the movie was a huge letdown. Even though it is only 102 minutes long, it feels as long as “The Lord of the Rings” — the extended version. But if you’re hankering for some mild humor, then go see “Drillbit Taylor,” graciously (but regretfully) screened at a cinema near you.

 

1 1/2 stars out of 5