Drillbit Taylor: Extended Survival Edition

A mix of My Bodyguard, 3 O’Clock High and Revenge of the Nerds, with homages to a few other films thrown in for good measure, Drillbit Taylor ends up as a straightforward revenge comedy with a foregone conclusion long before the story reaches its climax. It all begins with a familiar premise: on their first day of high school, a trio of nerds make enemies with the resident bullies and eventually resort to hiring a bodyguard to protect themselves. Amidst the chaos created by this new bodyguard, scam artist Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson), both friendships and romances begin to bud. With the screenplay co-written by Seth Rogen (along with Kristofor Brown, who also contributed last-minute one-liners to many of the actors on set), there are some hilarious moments, such as the 8 Mile-inspired rap battle or the fight training between best friends Wade (Nate Hartley) and Ryan (Troy Gentile). Drillbit Taylor also contains a lot of great cameo appearances and some terrific adlibs. The kids deliver quality performances and Owen Wilson is pretty much what you would expect, but the standout performance comes from Alex Frost as head bully Filkins, who is such a sweet talking asshole that it’s absolutely impossible not to desire his comeuppance. The commentary track, primarily by Kristofor Brown and director Steven Brill, reveals some very interesting titbits about the movie’s three main young actors (Nate, Troy and David Dorfman), who drop by to contribute short sections to the commentary. Along with the brief-ish phone conversation featurette between the two writers, the commentary also reveals a lot about the difficulties of maintaining the artistic vision of a product with the input of producers, film company heads and other bigwigs. The Extended Survival Edition also contains extra footage reinserted, along with additional deleted and extended scenes, a line-o-rama and a gag reel. Finally, a few featurettes are included that highlight certain aspects of the film. Although the special features are a little more than this somewhat mediocre comedy deserves, Drillbit Taylor is still worth a rental for a few good laughs. Plus, you’ll probably be seeing these young actors appearing in films a whole lot more now.