Superbad Little Brothers
Drillbit Taylor
(PG-13)
originally published March 26, 2008
Nate Hartley, Owen Wilson and Dave Dorfman
The latest Judd Apatow production may lack the raunch of its older siblings, Knocked Up and Superbad, but the flick still packs its share of juvenile laughs. Three newly minted high schoolers - Wade (Nate Hartley), Ryan AKA T-Dog (Troy Gentile), and Emmit (David Dorfman) - watch their short lives flash before their eyes while being terrorized by evil bully Filkins (Alex Frost), and his sidekick, Ronnie (Josh Peck). Determined to survive the next four years, Wade, Ryan and Emmit concoct a plan to hire a bodyguard. Having little money, the best the boys can afford is a homeless veteran who goes by the nom de guerre Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson). Infiltrating the school as an unauthorized substitute, he uses his nominal powers to torture the bullies with extra pull-ups and mushy romantic poetry while wooing a pretty English teacher (Leslie Mann), Drillbit protects his charges before, during, and after every class while scheming to take them and their upper-middle class parents for all they’re worth.
What Superbad was to the high school senior, Drillbit Taylor could be for the high school freshman - if the life of a typical high schooler were PG-13, which it isn’t. Drillbit Taylor may originate from a story by John Hughes (writing under the pseudonym Edmond Dantes), the king of '80s teen movies, but its roots lie in Hughes’ more kid-oriented fare (Drillbit is something of an Uncle Buck, an irresponsible ne’er-do-well forced to grow up, not by life, but by his younger charges, and Uncle Buck is the bridge connecting Breakfast Club Hughes and Home Alone Hughes). The script by Seth Rogen and Kristofor Brown lacks the realistic teenaged naughtiness of Superbad (the tame gags are very family friendly), though its main characters - Wade, Ryan, and Emmit - could be younger versions of Evan, Seth and Fogell. Go into Drillbit Taylor realizing that it’s Superbad for the preteens whose parents wouldn’t let them see Superbad (and probably won’t let them see this movie due to its kinship with last year’s surprise smash hit), and you shouldn’t be disappointed. Even then, this low-carat diamond-in-the-rough comedy is dulled by two major flaws. Even with Filkins’ psycho-bully freakout, it’s hard to cheer for the prospect of a grown man beating down a high school student. Additionally, the robbery scheme of Drillbit’s homeless pal, Don (Danny McBride), sidetracks the entire film just long enough to ensure another Apatow production lasts about 10 minutes longer than is necessary. Though bound to disappoint the Superbad fans expecting a second helping of McLovin, anyone satisfied by an innocent, chuckle-filled, cathartic bully beatdown (courtesy of Apatow and company) should be pleased with the services of Drillbit Taylor.
A Black and Bruges-ing Comedy
In Bruges
(R)
originally published March 26, 2008
Colin Farrell
In Bruges, two hitmen, Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson), await word from their boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), about what will happen following the muckup Ray made of their last hit; Harry, a scary, angry man who curses quite a bit, is not happy. In the meantime, Ray and Ken are supposed to sit tight, take in the sights of this fairy-tale burg, drink a couple of pints down at the local pub, and wait. But Bruges bores Ray, and Ken is becoming disillusioned with his chosen profession. These men are at a crossroads, a crossroads that just happens to be located in the most well-preserved medieval town in Belgium. Writer-director Martin McDonagh makes good on the promise he made with his Oscar winning short film, Six Shooter (which also starred Gleeson), in this gleeful comedy, the blackest I’ve seen in some time. With In Bruges, McDonagh takes the reins from Guy Ritchie, who has lost his way since Snatch. McDonagh does the British brand of darkly comic crime drama darker, funnier, and maybe even smarter than Ritchie. McDonagh’s world is populated by murderous, racist, homophobic thugs, and yet it’s a charming place to spend a couple of hours. While In Bruges can be a bit indulgent - trading winks with the audience like any post-Pulp Fiction crimedy - the film brilliantly weaves together its quirky unloveables, its quaint locale and its graphic violence into a rather tidy little rug that covers up most of the bare patches in the plot carpeting.
In Bruges pleasantly surprises with its lithe love of language. Entire conversations unfold around the tangential subjects of alcoves, middle-aged lolly salesmen/ karate experts, and the suicide rate amongst dwarves. As scripted as the exchanges sound, they retain the spontaneous degeneration that typifies the banter between two live human beings, which is what Ray and Ken become thanks to Farrell and Gleeson. Gleeson’s excellence is unsurprising, but Farrell, a wild card desperately in need of another chance to remind the world why he used to be the "next big thing,” is shockingly brilliant as the petulant, childlike Ray. A lummox who can’t keep his foot out of his mouth or his fist out of someone else’s face, Ray should engender loathing, but Farrell - and McDonagh’s script - won’t allow it. He’s the most charmingly dense hitman since Vincent Vega, and Farrell’s much more convincing than the Oscar-nominated Travolta. Don’t misinterpret the many comparisons to Pulp Fiction, In Bruges is nowhere near as revolutionary, but the film is as entertaining a bloody relative as I’ve met since the late '90s.
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