Drillbit Taylor
Directed by Steven Brill
The last two films Judd Apatow was involved with, Knocked Up and Superbad, single-handedly paved the way for a new subgenre of comedy: the raucously hilarious obscenity-fest with a heart. Apatow’s newest project, Drillbit Taylor, produced by Apatow himself and written by Knocked Up star Seth Rogen, fails to live up to their example; its comedy falls flat, and the film has a violent core where its heart should be.
The film’s protagonists—Ryan (Troy Gentile), Wade (Nate Hartley), and Emmit (David Dorfman)—are embarrassingly obvious carbon copies of Superbad’s three heroes. They’re teenage outcasts whose high school existence is threatened by a sociopathic school bully. Desperate and fearing for their lives, the boys hire the title character, played by Owen Wilson, as their bodyguard. The good-natured Drillbit is a homeless veteran looking for easy money. Eventually, he grows fond of his protégés and must stare down an ethical dilemma, just as the young warriors must stare down their tormentor.
Drillbit Taylor’s comedic timing is off, and the jokes never quite land. Wilson and his young co-stars are likeable enough: The trouble is, they’re not funny. There’s a frustrating misappropriation of roles. The film is filled with gifted comic actors whose chops are wasted on one-line cameos and dull supporting parts—even the excellent Leslie Mann is forgettable as Drillbit’s love interest. With all this comic talent at director Steven Brill’s disposal, why not use some of it for, you know,
comedy?
Much of the energy that could have made Drillbit Taylor funny is instead spent on uncomfortably long, unnecessarily brutal fight scenes. Kudos to Apatow for breaking free of the annoying ’90s habit of casting twentysomethings to play teenagers; but now that the 14-year-olds actually look 14, it’s hard to watch kids whose voices haven’t even changed get punched in the face over and over again.
Then there’s the awkward casting of Alex Frost, who played one of the Columbine shooters in Gus Van Sant’s Elephant, as the school bully. The eerily familiar sight of Frost, his face obscured by a black hooded sweatshirt, moving slowly through the halls towards his nerd prey, doesn’t exactly call to mind the levity of a John Hughes movie.
In the end, it’s hard to know what the makers of Drillbit Taylor were trying to accomplish: Their once-clear vision of a benevolent, uproarious comedy is now obscured by a lot of kicking and screaming.
Directed by Steven Brill
The last two films Judd Apatow was involved with, Knocked Up and Superbad, single-handedly paved the way for a new subgenre of comedy: the raucously hilarious obscenity-fest with a heart. Apatow’s newest project, Drillbit Taylor, produced by Apatow himself and written by Knocked Up star Seth Rogen, fails to live up to their example; its comedy falls flat, and the film has a violent core where its heart should be.
The film’s protagonists—Ryan (Troy Gentile), Wade (Nate Hartley), and Emmit (David Dorfman)—are embarrassingly obvious carbon copies of Superbad’s three heroes. They’re teenage outcasts whose high school existence is threatened by a sociopathic school bully. Desperate and fearing for their lives, the boys hire the title character, played by Owen Wilson, as their bodyguard. The good-natured Drillbit is a homeless veteran looking for easy money. Eventually, he grows fond of his protégés and must stare down an ethical dilemma, just as the young warriors must stare down their tormentor.
Drillbit Taylor’s comedic timing is off, and the jokes never quite land. Wilson and his young co-stars are likeable enough: The trouble is, they’re not funny. There’s a frustrating misappropriation of roles. The film is filled with gifted comic actors whose chops are wasted on one-line cameos and dull supporting parts—even the excellent Leslie Mann is forgettable as Drillbit’s love interest. With all this comic talent at director Steven Brill’s disposal, why not use some of it for, you know,
comedy?
Much of the energy that could have made Drillbit Taylor funny is instead spent on uncomfortably long, unnecessarily brutal fight scenes. Kudos to Apatow for breaking free of the annoying ’90s habit of casting twentysomethings to play teenagers; but now that the 14-year-olds actually look 14, it’s hard to watch kids whose voices haven’t even changed get punched in the face over and over again.
Then there’s the awkward casting of Alex Frost, who played one of the Columbine shooters in Gus Van Sant’s Elephant, as the school bully. The eerily familiar sight of Frost, his face obscured by a black hooded sweatshirt, moving slowly through the halls towards his nerd prey, doesn’t exactly call to mind the levity of a John Hughes movie.
In the end, it’s hard to know what the makers of Drillbit Taylor were trying to accomplish: Their once-clear vision of a benevolent, uproarious comedy is now obscured by a lot of kicking and screaming.
