Film Review: Drillbit Taylor

Liverpool Daily Post

Drillbit Taylor (12A, 101 mins)
Stars: Owen Wilson, Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile, Ian Roberts, Casey Boersma, Dylan Boersma, Lisa Ann Walter, Beth Littleford
Directed by Steven Brill

FEW of us dip our toes into the waters of adult life without a few emotional bruises from our schooldays.

The playground is a battlefield, where bullies hone in on the slightest sign of weakness.

In Steven Brill’s comedy, the victims strike back against their tormentors with help from a downtrodden soldier of fortune who claims he protected "three Vice Presidents, Bobby Brown and Sylvester Stallone".

On their first day at high school, Ryan and Wade lend a hand to bullied loner Emmit by saving him from psychotic Filkins and his henchman Ronnie.

But the thugs merely turn their attention to Ryan and Wade. To save themselves, the boys hire Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson) as their private body- guard. Drillbit Taylor is a blood brother to co- screenwriter Seth Rogen’s previous film, Superbad, which drew its humour from the camaraderie between two sexually frustrated teenagers.

This comedy is pitched younger and the leads fizz with energy.

Wilson plays to his strengths, but Rogen and Kristofer Brown’s screenplay runs out of ideas and contrives a final showdown that asserts the best way to defeat a bully is to smack him harder.

"I don’t want you to think I’m the kind of guy who impresses girls with violence," Wade says.

It gives new meaning to the term schoolboy crush.