Drillbit Taylor (2008)

Doing His 'Bit'

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Drillbit Taylor on DVD

More from those golden geese of comedy, Seth Rogen co-wrote Drillbit Taylor and Judd Apatow produced. Owen Wilson plays a homeless Army vet who accepts a job as a bodyguard for three exceedingly nerdy high school freshmen (the well-cast Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile and David Dorfman) against the most sadistic, psychopathic bully ever filmed (Alex Frost, who played the killer in Gus Van Sant's Elephant). As ever, Wilson's charmingly slippery delivery sets the tone and saves the day from slapsticky broadness. And though the script goes through the expected motions, it sometimes springs happy little surprises, such as a funny reference to My Bodyguard (1980), from which this idea comes. John Hughes apparently worked on the story, under the pseudonym "Edmond Dantes." Steven Brill (Little Nicky directed.

DVD Details: The typical "extended" version runs about 7 minutes longer, though I didn't get a chance to watch it to find out what the difference is. The disc also comes with 17 minutes of "deleted/extended" scenes. There's a feature called "iine-o-rama," a collection of choice lines and a gag reel. There's an "interview" with the writers, but Seth Rogen is on the phone while we look at movie stills. The five-man commentary track is a little low-key. At startup, we get a teaser for next year's Star Trek movie, plus an Iron Man trailer.

AskMen.com: Drillbit Taylor

Starring: Owen Wilson, Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile, Ian Roberts, Casey Boersma, Dylan Boersma, Lisa Ann Walter, Beth Littleford, David Koechner, Matt Walsh, David Dorfman, Valerie Tian, Alex Frost, Josh Peck, Leslie Mann, Andrew Caldwell, Lisa Lampanelli, Billy O'Neill, Shaunn Weiss, Jordan Valley, Stephen Root, Davon McDonald, Amir Perets, Roger Fan, Cristos, Adam Baldwin, Chuck Liddell, Robert 'Bonecrusher' Mukes, Matt Besser, Kevin Hart
Written by: Kristofor Brown, Seth Rogen, based on a story by "Edmond Dantes" (John Hughes), Kristofor Brown, Seth Rogen
Directed by: Steven Brill
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for crude sexual references throughout, strong bullying, language, drug references and partial nudity
Running Time: 102 minutes
Date: March 21, 2008