The horror that is high school forces three socially challenged young men to turn to an equally challenged ex-military man for help in the comic caper “Drillbit Taylor.”
Best friends Wade and Ryan (Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile) have put their collective heads together in order to make a splash in this their first day of high school. The two have practiced their moves in order to pick up ladies, done some working out and put together a hip new wardrobe all with the goal of social acceptance in mind.
Enter reality.
Wade sprouted up before his body could catch up while Ryan suffers from the polar opposite malady (read: husky), making them instant fodder for the school bully Filkins (Alex Frost) and his lackey Ronnie (Josh Peck). After attempting to rescue a fellow student, the duo becomes a trio with the addition of the rescuee in question, a miniscule little slice of white suburbia named Emmit (David Dorfman).
The three hatch a plan to hire a bodyguard in order to survive their freshman year. An exhausting round of interviews take place with agents of the Mossad, martial arts masters, hip hop protection specialists and even an old pro (Adam Baldwin from 1980’s “My Bodyguard”) answering the call, but alas no one fits the bill. Enter a scruffy looking army veteran, and “Drillbit” Taylor (Owen Wilson) takes the boys “under his wing.”
A homeless drifter, Taylor plans to take everything he can from the boys and light out for Canada. He soon begins to develop a genuine affection for the three outsiders and becomes a mentor as well as a protector. He fools his way into the school as a substitute teacher to watch over the boys. His charms land him the attention of a certain young teacher Miss Lisa (Leslie Mann) and “Drillbit” begins to reconsider some of his life choices. When his ruse is revealed, Taylor is forced to decide between his instinct to run and a newfound feeling of belonging learned during his time with the boys.
Seth Rogen has been following a formula that has lead to his many successes these past few years. Once again he shows the sexual frustration and angst of his leads in a most endearing manner easily relatable to the majority of us that did not attend school in the O.C., and it pays off once more.
This time out, however, Rogen has toned down the debauchery to a PG-13 level, giving us a more “Hughes-onian” (John Hughes “Sixteen Candles,” “Ferris Bueller”) look at teen life. And why might that be? Hughes himself was involved in the writing process giving credit to his alter ego Edmond Dantes (lead in “The Count of Monte Cristo”). This addition gives us a more family-friendly film than either “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up” or “Superbad” while still possessing enough of an edge for today’s jaded teen crowd. Throw in a well-cast group of misfits, and you have yourself an enjoyable little film.
I recommend “Drillbit Taylor” as a fun, lighthearted jog through the park of pre-pubescence. I don’t know that Rogen and company (Judd Apatow) can keep pushing the same basic storyline on us much longer, but being that their offerings thus far have all been at the very least solid (“Drillbit,” “Knocked Up”) to plain old-fashioned evil funny (“Virgin,” “Superbad”), I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.
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