In "Drillbit Taylor," Wilson must shoulder most of the comic load himself, a challenge that underscores his limited range as an actor. Produced by Judd Apatow and co-written by Seth Rogen (creative minds behind "Knocked Up" and "Superbad"), this derivative high-school comedy suggests the Apatow laugh machine may be breaking down.
As the movie opens, two adolescent geeks are bracing themselves for their first day of high school. Wade (Nate Hartley) is a shy, skinny egghead, while best pal Ryan (Troy Gentile) is a chubby, curly-haired smartmouth. They're like a less funny, PG-13 version of Michael Cera and Jonah Hill from "Superbad," but with fewer penis jokes.
Of course, their debut goes spectacularly badly. Wade and Ryan unwittingly wear the same dorky bowling shirt, then attract an annoying pint-size tagalong named Emmit (David Dorfman) and the wrath of sociopathic school bully Filkins (Alex Frost). Over the next week Filkins stuffs the trio in lockers, soaks them in urine and evades prosecution by the school's clueless principal ("Office Space's" Stephen Root).
Enter Drillbit (Wilson), who answers the geeks' ad for a bodyguard by posing as a martial-arts expert. Wilson's character is a shiftless bum who camps in the Santa Monica bushes and ekes out a living panhandling. Looking for some easy cash, he figures he'll scam his way into the kids' lives, steal stuff from their rich parents' homes and skip town.
But when the principal mistakes Drillbit for a substitute teacher, the "bodyguard" becomes a daily fixture at the school, where he romances a love-starved colleague (Leslie Mann) and - surprise! - begins to care about the welfare of his young charges.
The script has some amusing lines in its first half, before the predictable plot mechanics kick in. But its story feels ludicrous - can a stranger really stroll into a high school and start teaching gym? - and not remotely fresh. It borrows from teen-bully movies such as "My Bodyguard" (Adam Baldwin, that film's star, makes an amusing cameo) without contributing anything new to the genre. And a recurring gag about Wade's macho-mouthy brothers seems swiped from "Talladega Nights."
Twelve-year-old boys might well enjoy "Drillbit Taylor." But after the whip-smart dialogue of a teen movie like "Juno," it's harder for us older viewers to sit through a pastiche of high-school clichés and people kicking each other in the crotch. Even Wilson looks bored.
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* BRANDON GRIGGS can be reached at griggs@sltrib .com or 801-257-8689. Send comments about this review to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
Drillbit Taylor
WHERE: Theaters everywhere.
WHEN: Opens today.
RATING: PG-13 for crude sexual references throughout, strong bullying, language, drug references and partial nudity.
RUNNING TIME: 102 minutes.
BOTTOM LINE: Owen Wilson's scruffy charisma can't carry this mediocre high-school bully comedy.
