August 30, 2008: Drillbit Taylor
I’m a Judd Apatow trooper, so of course this had to come my way sometime. It’s another high-concept comedy, this one about some nerdy high school kids who hire a bodyguard to save them from torment at the hands of the standard Hollywood-movie-high-school antagonists, primarily jocks. The bodyguard is vastly underqualified even for this relatively simple task, but manages to grow and develop, and teach the kids some life lessons, and even learn a few himself. And everybody ends up happy.
I can’t say that I paid 100% attention to this movie, and I don’t think that I or the movie suffered for that. It is what it is, and Owen Wilson is what he is (which really works sometimes, such as in Meet the Parents, and really doesn’t work sometimes, such as in Behind Enemy Lines). There were some inspired bits, and it’s a decent role for Owen Wilson, but ultimately if I were to force this review into the whole “positive or negative” extremes, I think it’s clear where this one would fall.
It is nice to see Lisa Lampanelli showing up in a movie – she’s a bit much to take in a concentrated dose, such as one of her stand-up comedy shows, but in a quick cameo she can really spice up a movie sitting on the edge of crudeness, particularly as she was playing herself.
Don’t rush out to see this one. It’s for Apatow completists only.
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