Review: ‘Drillbit Taylor’

I could say I knew this movie was going to be a disappointment, but that’d be a lie. Its not a complete disappointment. There are several funny scenes in this movie, but it falls incredibly short of the hillarity typical of the other Judd Apatow films I’ve seen to date. It actually took me a while to finally see this, partially due to illness, but also in part due to my unexplainable hesitance to seeing this. Part of me really wanted to go see what I assumed would be 90 plus minutes of laughter, but there was this other part of me that said … “eh, why bother?”

Steven Brill (Without a Paddle) helmed this Apatow-produced comedy. Brill is an actor-turned-director whose directorial resume includes the Adam Sandler vehicles Little Nicky and Mr. Deeds. Again, I am not suggesting that Drillbit Taylor is a horrible movie, but merely confessing that it did not live up to my expectations, which is a direct violation of my own rule #1 of movie-watching … leave your expectations in the lobby. However, I found myself helplessly expectant of another Apatow gem and instead found myself wanting. Brill did a decent job, as did Owen Wilson and the rest of the cast. In my opinion, Owen Wilson’s style of humor is better suited for the comedic styling of Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums).

In general, Drillbit Taylor felt a bit like a prequel to SuperBad, which I feel is a far superior comedy and a much more satisfactory Apatow success. I suppose this was part of the problem, as I hesitated in seeing SuperBad but was thoroughly laughed-out once I finally saw the movie. Perhaps I mistakenly allowed myself to retread this same same with Drillbit Taylor? Not only do the two high school freshmen that hire Drillbit hold a slightly younger resemblance to the two college freshman of SuperBad, but the basic plot in both is that of these two unpopular kids trying to find some way to fit in and be more popular.

On the whole, I did enjoy Drillbit Taylor. Owen Wilson was actually fun to watch in this role, even if it did seem somewhat odd at times; comedienne Lisa Lamanelli was a joy in her short cameos as one of the bully’s mom; Troy Gentile, who plays one fo the two freshman geeks, was especially funny … I think you’ll enjoy the rap-off scene between him and the main bully … and Beth Littleford, who plays a teacher and the love interest of Drillbit, was funny in a nymphomaniac, Red Bull addict kind of way … but, also sort of threw me off as she kept reminding my of Kyra Sedgwick, who would likely never have taken such a role … but, I’d have gladly welcomed her as the sexually-charged English teacher.

[rating: 3/5]