Produced by comedy goldmine filmmaker Judd Apatow, director Steven Brill's Drillbit Taylor is fitfully funny at best, pushing absurd situations to extremes. Owen Wilson stars as the titular Taylor, a homeless AWOL Army vet hired by three nerdy high-school freshmen (Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile, and David Dorfman) to protect them from older bullies. Operating “undercover” as a substitute teacher, the amoral Drillbit romances a fellow faculty member (Leslie Mann, Apatow's real-life wife) while biding his time—using his “job” as a cover for his planned looting of the boys' homes. The script—co-written by Apatow posse member and Knocked Up star Seth Rogen—makes Drillbit so unsympathetic that his third-act redemption rings hollow, and Wilson's trademark dry dialogue delivery (usually an asset), here simply comes off as smarmy. In addition, the romance angle is insufficiently developed, and Mann simply disappears about two-thirds of the way through the film. Drillbit Taylor isn't outright horrible, but given the talent involved it should have been a lot better. Very optional. [Note: Available in either unrated or PG-13 rated versions, DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary (by director Steven Brill, screenwriter Kristofor Brown, and costars Troy Gentile, Nate Hartley, and David Dorfman), 13 deleted/extended scenes (17 min.), “The Writers Get a Chance to Talk” featuring Brown and co-writer Seth Rogen (14 min.), “The Real Don: Danny McBride” character featurette (6 min.), five minutes of “Line-O-Rama” outtakes, a four-minute gag reel, a “Rap Off” (4 min.), a “Sprinkler Day” scene-specific segment (4 min.), the three-minute behind-the-scenes featurettes “Bully” and “Directing Kids,” and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a lame comedy.] (E. Hulse)
Drillbit Taylor
Paramount, 101 min., PG-13, DVD: $29.99, July 1 Volume 23, Issue 4
Drillbit Taylor
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