“Drillbit Taylor” couldn’t drum up more than $10 million dollars this weekend for a 5th place showing at the box-office (‘Horton’ won again). Against our conscious better judgement and because we’re apparently gluttons for punishment, we went on Saturday evening to a dreadfully empty theater (we were actually shocked to see how empty it was on a Sat eve in Brooklyn).
As you might have assumed by the negative press, and the average trailer, this film – a rehash of the ’80s teen flick, “My Bodyguard” – was pretty dismal, tedious and had too few scattered laughs to justify it’s extended hour and forty two minutes in laborious length (we were literally clocking it, it was so boring at times).
Danny McBride had a few funny lines, and Leslie Mann was as adorably charming as she usually is (she definitely needs a starring role), but the kids couldn’t carry the movie, the jokes were mild and mediocre and the presentation was lazy and dull. Relaxed and carefree lead actor Owen Wilson of course did a fantastic job of playing Owen Wilson with his free-spirited approach and “try your best” attitude when it comes to acting (essentially: if he’s not in a Wes Anderson film, stay away)
One can and could chalk this up as another blow to the Judd Apatow line of comedy franchises, but despite having his name as a producer credit and Seth Rogen as one of the writers, the project felt far and removed from the Apatow world (and more akin to an Apatow vehicle to help out a buddy – director Steven Brill – and a “hey, why don’t you practice your writing” assignment/exercises for Rogen at Apatow’s behest). So yeah, so you could take a shot at them now if you wanted, but we would assume they would just shrug and it’s not even worth the effort. Their hearts weren’t in it (or even apart of it) and that’s clear from the get-go.
Also, let’s not forget that this film was PG13 and certainly not aimed at the audience that loved “Superbad” and “Knocked-Up.” So that’s all the review we can muster. [C]
The film currently stands at a pathetic 23% on Rotten Tomatoes. The New York Times’ A.O Scott nicely sums it up. “It makes more sense to think of this dumb little picture…as part of the Apatow discount line. ‘You get what you pay for,’ the tag line on the advertisement says. I saw it free, and I still feel cheated.”
Amen, ok, let’s not waste more ink on this one. One parting thought. Would love to see an Apatow comedy from more of a female perspective (though “Knocked Up” had elements of that) and more starring parts for Leslie Mann.
