Writer: Cammy Zulkifli

Writer Ratings:
Overall:
Cast:
Plot:
Effects: NA
Cinematography:

Watch this if you liked: "Superbad", "The Pacifier", "Knocked Up"

From the producers who brought you "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Grosse Point Blank", this juvenile comedy is a step back into your insufferable years at high school, dealing with the age-old conflict between nerds and bullies. Seth Rogen, whom we remember as Katherine Heigl's accidental lover in "Knocked Up", co-wrote this piece alongside Kristofor Brown, who wrote the likes of "Beavis And Butthead". A peek at these people's repertoire reveals plenty about the inspiration behind "Drillbit Taylor", which isn't grossly deep or inspirational to start with, but perhaps is a tribute to the underdogs they all once were.

The film begins on the first day of high school where chubby but bravado Ryan (Troy Gentile), freakishly skinny Wade (newcomer Nate Hartley) and their newfound shrimpy friend Emmit (David Dorfman) begin the first day of the rest of their lives. Wanting nothing more than a peaceful passage through their teenage years, the trio knows that they are doomed to the bottom of the popularity ladder and fast becomes the target of the school bullies. A few confrontations later, they realise that it's going to take them more than an escape route to ditch the bullies, and they hire a bodyguard to take care of things.

Of course, where does one find a seedy bodyguard except from the Internet? Owen Wilson stars as the title character Drillbit - a bum and loser who, not wanting to look for a decent job, spends his days begging at the highway and sleeps in a makeshift tent in the woods next to it. Coming across the boys' online ad, Drillbit applies with ulterior motives, although he bears no ill intention towards the boys. He really just wants to cheat them out of their money and belongings to fund his way to Canada. Why Canada? Because the beers are twice as potent, he says.

Seem a little pointless? Only because it is. The film has a few things that could be elaborated on but is too lazy to develop. The story felt trivial, thus making the characters awfully thin in personality. Drillbit's nonchalant attitude holds so little depth that viewers can't be bothered with his reasoning, making him the idiot of the story rather than the geeky boys in question. Like the children's movie "The Pacifier", Wilson's character resembles that of Vin Diesel's, supposedly meant to be hated and then loved at the end but as the plot progresses, we never learn to sympathise with Drillbit, whose petty aspirations only serve to annoy the hell out of people.

The three boys also make a weary threesome, despite the fact that they all look the part, and Drillbit's whirlwind lust affair with a high-school teacher is nothing more than a last minute addition to beef things up with a dash of sex - not to mention his unusual habit of showering naked at the beach shower.

Wilson is a good comedic actor - he did well in "The Wedding Crashers" - but this film undermines his talents, as well as an actor. At least his crooked nose justifies the amount of punches in the face he got in this film.

Cinema Online, 23 September 2008