Drillbit Taylor

Starring: Owen Wilson, Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile, Leslie, Mann, Beth Littleford, Lisa Lampanelli
Directed by: Steven Brill
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A homeless ex-soldier (Owen Wilson) is hired by three high-school nerds to protect them from a bully. He sees a situation he can take advantage of, and "helps" them while pursuing his own selfish agenda.

Review:

Tim: This isn't a good movie. The whole premise has some potential- I like the idea of nerds hiring a bodyguard to protect them from a bully (although this isn't original by any means). I also like the casting of Owen Wilson. However, the film really sets out to make Drillbit Taylor a horrible human being. This leaves us with no one to root for- we can't care too much about the nerds because they are such complete losers (and to some degree, not the best people in the world, either); and we can't care about Wilson. This makes the entire movie seem a bit pointless.

The scenes with Wilson giving lessons to the nerds are brutally boring. This movie drags and drags in practically every other scene. There might be a few humorous moments, but they are buried so far into the boredom that it is hard to spot them when they do emerge.

This movie also suffers because the entire film is so ridiculous and hard to believe. Some of the tactics the bully uses to terrorize the nerds are beyond insane, and wouldn't really happen in reality. The whole Drillbit Taylor infiltrating the high school undetected is fairly absurd, too. This whole movie just requires us to suspend disbelief far too much, and there's no payoff for us having to do this.

Now, there are a few bright moments throughout the movie. I think this comes from Seth Rogen as one of the writers, because there are some legitimately heartfelt moments that remind you of films like Superbad. However, the whole movie is just not very enjoyable at all. I wasn't entertained, and this movie was mostly just a huge waste of time.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 4.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Superbad, Pineapple Express, The Darjeeling Unlimited; You, Me, and Dupree