DRILLBIT TAYLOR — ★ ★ ★ — Owen Wilson, Alex Frost, Matt Gallini, Troy Gentile, Nate Hartley, Janet Varney, Josh Peck, Rakefet Abergel, Christopher L. Antie, Stacy Arnell; rated PG-13 (violence, profanity, vulgarity, brief partial nudity, brief sex, drug use)

As crude as parts of it are, "Drillbit Taylor" is surely the most "family-friendly" of the comedies produced by Judd Apatow and his cohorts.

But considering the other films have consisted of such raunchy R-rated hits as "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Superbad," that's not surprising. What is surprising, though, is how genuinely appealing this gentler, PG-13 comedy is.

While there is still some questionable humor, and there are some tasteless sexual references, the film is very sweet and recalls the cultily adored 1980 hit "My Bodyguard" in almost all the right ways.

It's also the kind of movie vehicle its star, the troubled Owen Wilson, needed. He stars as the title character, a U.S. Army veteran who's now living on the streets.

Drillbit is barely scraping by, though he desperately wants to go to Canada, where he's convinced things will be better.

In need of some quick cash to get a bus ticket, he agrees to become the bodyguard and mentor of sorts to the picked-upon Wade (Nate Hartley) and his best friend, the calorically challenged Ryan, or T-Dogg (Troy Gentile).

Wade and Ryan are incoming high school freshmen and have already incurred the wrath of school bully Terry Filkins (Alex Frost). They're convinced that the tough-talking Drillbit will be able to protect them.

The two teens are clearly based on screenwriters Kristofor Brown and Seth Rogen, and as ridiculous as things do get, there's still some painful realism to these situations.

And the two are even smart enough to acknowledge the considerable debt to "My Bodyguard" — that film's co-star, Adam Baldwin, has a brief cameo.

Still, the film probably wouldn't work as well as it does with anyone other than Wilson in the lead role. He's looser and more lively than he's been in quite a while and reminds us here exactly how and why he became a star in the first place.

The two youngsters are fresh-faced revelations, particularly Hartley, whose clever but painfully shy Wade gets our sympathies immediately (shades of the Chris Makepeace character in "My Bodyguard").

"Drillbit Taylor" is rated PG-13 for some strong violence (bullying, fisticuffs, vehicular mayhem and reckless endangerment), some strong sexual language and references (crude slang and strong profanity), brief partial male nudity, drug references (cocaine), a brief sex scene (implied) and derogatory slurs (some racial). Running time: 102 minutes.

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E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com