From Deseret News archives:

Drillbit Taylor

Published: Thursday, March 20, 2008 5:32 p.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
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).

Story continues below
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.


E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Movie Info
Rated PG-13 for violence, profanity, vulgarity, brief partial nudity, brief sex, drug use.

Cast: Owen Wilson, Alex Frost, Matt Gallini, Troy Gentile, Nate Hartley, Janet Varney, Josh Peck, Rakefet Abergel, Christopher L. Antie, Stacy Arnell
FIND LOCAL MOVIE SHOWTIMES
Image
Suzanne Hanover, Paramount Pictures

Wade (Nate Hartley), left, Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson), Emmit (David Dorfman) and Ryan (Troy Gentile) conspire in "Drillbit Taylor."

Video
Related content
previousnext

Latest comments

From reading about this incident on another site, I learned that what the BYU...

Pratt pleads not guilty to sex charges

Comparing the two different cases is like comparing apples and oranges. In...

Bitter hateful nasty.....but donate to charity....just one step above a liberal!

S.L. vote pending on gay protections

Creating discrimination protection for one group is inherently...

I did not know poor people ate less? Thanks GOP leaders for your thoughtful...

he took his mistress to the crystal inn in salt lake city. the police never...

You THunder Chickens are gonna get rolled, won't even be close... You guys...

Re: Little Brother Get your facts straight before you mouth off. Since...

Is this the pagan webpage or is this the DNEWS....who gave this guy the free...

Senators want food tax restored

Two leading Republicans propose another $140 million food tax on the poor. Is...

Advertisements
Advertisement