Meu Nome é Taylor, Drillbit Taylor

I'm one of those "indie-films-or-bust" type of people (with my favorite movies ranging from Amelie to the Darjeeling Limited), so when I saw the preview for Drillbit Taylor, it was an immediate turn-off for me. I saw it as boob, nuts, and ass jokes (aka crude teenage humor) and I was not excited to see it. However, an opportunity arose to see the movie well before it came out and I took the chance to see it.

To my great surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie to its fullest. Sure Owen Wilson is funny, but the kids stole the show. The crude humor was left to a minimum and the funniest lines were the really subtle ones that almost everyone missed. This movie had heart and a good message (which you don't normally see in mainstream teenage movies *excluding Juno*). Although I know it's probably not gonna make huge headlines, I feel like this movie needs more recognition than it's gonna get. I want to see this movie go big, and I'm excited to see what people say about it. So take it from me, it's funny and it's not disappointing.

Gosh. Forget that this was a flop, and you simply cannot enjoy it in any way. And forget that you simply cannot watch this desperately lost character without reflecting on the actor.

Instead follow this as another in the Hughes-inspired genre, where the story matters less that the cleanliness of the stereotypes. That's really what this is all about. It innovates not at all in the whiny simpy Jew, and earnest fat kid, and that's too bad because we could well be rid of them. But it does innovate a bit in the bully (who is here not a jock), the love interest (here a bespeckled Asian girl), and of course with the Wilson character.

Its in this experiment that the film relies and fails. There's this oft-used balance between mental unbalance and the fantasy of the ideal. Depp does this well, with perhaps the touchstone being his Brando-inspired Don Juan DeMarco. I may have seen a score of popular movies in the last year that use this. My own central reference is "They Might Be Giants."

But in order for this to work, you have to yearn for the fantasy yourself. You want K-Pax. You want romance, clarity, purity. I suppose it could work for fidelity and family as they try here, but not by the route they chose. I guess they simply banked on Owen being inspired and charming us independently of the character box they put him in. That's what the love interest here is for: to be our surrogate watcher, one who accepts.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Although this silly kids' movie might not seem like it will hold your interest, give it another thought before renting something else this weekend. If you liked the sentiment behind Freaks and Geeks, you'll love it. Co-produced by Apatow Productions and co-written by Seth Rogen, there's an obvious soft spot in the film's heart for misfit kids who can't catch a break. This isn't a movie where you can root for the bad guys, and while it does make fun of the scrawny, overweight, and unmasculine, it does so with the same playful affection friends tease each other.

While starting out high school, Nate Hartley and Troy Gentile find themselves the new targets of horrible bullies Alex Frost and Josh Peck. The harassment is so terrible, and no parent or principal can help them, so they take a drastic chance in hiring a bodyguard. They interview many professionals but settle on the cheapest option: Owen Wilson. Why does he only charge $200? Because unbeknownst to the kids, he's a homeless veteran who just wants enough money to buy a ticket to Canada. Together with his other homeless pals, he plans to string the kids along and then rob them.

But since this is a family comedy, it's a safe bet that he'll find himself endeared to the kids. He does start off as a slick conman, but when he finally sees how much the kids need him, he finds a new purpose and starts taking the bodyguard job seriously. There is a brief part of the movie where Owen suggests finding common ground and making friends with the bullies, but that doesn't pan out. Sometimes, kids are bad to the bone and no amount of "conflict resolution" or loving your enemies can soften their hearts. So, don't expect everyone to have a Thanksgiving potluck together at the end of the movie.

I liked Drillbit Taylor so much more than I thought I would. I thought it was going to be far too silly and geared towards teen boys for my taste, but it was surprisingly sweet. Owen was really adorable, and it put me in the mood for the old Freaks and Geeks episodes.

It's been a while since I wrote one of these but thanks mainly to Owen Wilson for another hilarious (yes and interchangeable) role, this movie was funny enough to get motivated once again.

The premise is obviously pretty simple and has been done before in both bodyguard and teen movies (Superbad and My Bodyguard come to mind...duh). The beauty of this movie it combines the two genres with Owen Wilson's natural comedic talent and three capable younger actors resulting in a mostly funny comedy that is unique from the rest.

There was an interesting metaphor contained in one of the trailers showing Drillbit telling the kids he's taking them under his wing. The reason I say this is interesting is because this is how it mostly worked for the movie's humor. It took almost 15 minutes for it to really get started. Don't get me wrong, there were some funny parts that didn't involve him like the bodyguard interviews (gotta love Frank Whaley's cameo), Ryan's rap off with the bully and the two hitting each other but the biggest laughs for me were from Owen Wilson. To be fair though, Owen was at his best when the kids were involved. I loved the way he approached this "job" with one part seriousness, one part B.S. and two parts hilarious. I was dying when he was holding up that kid's burning popsicle stick project up to the sprinklers and just the general training conversations just to illustrate that recipe.

Overall, this storyline was nothing brilliant but as in You Me and Dupree, Owen Wilson manages to take something that could be rather mediocre turning it into an enjoyable and endearing comedy. True, he really didn't do it by himself as I'd try to make you believe. I mean the way the bullies were portrayed was a very convincing and effective factor that helped sell this one as well and who could forget the lovely Leslie Mann in an interesting and sometimes funny romantic subplot. To sum it all up, if you liked the trailers you're going to like this movie. And a shout to all the people who replied in my thread that convinced me to go myself. You were right.

'Drilbit Taylor' is a teen movie that revolves around three highschool students being bullied and in order to protect themselves they plan to hire a bodyguard. The film has its own charm and is quite likable thanks mostly to Wilson's chemistry with the three teens. Another thing I liked about this movie is that it wasn't overloaded with sex and crudeness which seems to be a forced compulsory requirement of every teen movie these days (a recent example being the awful 'Superbad'). The teen actors, Nate Hartley and Troy Gentile are very good. Hartley particularly gives a natural performance. Owen Wilson uses his superb comic timing and does nothing short of great. What I didn't like about 'Drilbit Taylor' is that it tends to go unnecessarily over the top with some sequences and the fight scene in the end is a little too violent. The bullying scenes were meant to be funny (at least that's the impression I got given the background score and the way it was executed) but with me they had the opposite effect and I wonder how kids who are actually bullied would feel after watching such scenes being used as comic relief. However on the other hand, it might be uplifting to them as the point of the movie was to stand up for oneself and his friends. Anyway, 'Drilbit Taylor' is fun entertainment. Not the best of its kind but still good enough.