Wade (Nate Hartley), Ryan (Troy Gentile) and Emmit (David Dorfman) have just started their high school careers. Unfortunately, their dreams of being the popular kids are pretty much cut short when they are immediately pegged as geeks and dorks and start getting picked on by school bully Filkins (Alex Frost) and his crony Ronnie (Josh Peck). The two spend their life torturing the new kids because they feel that school is boring and the trio is the only real enjoyment they get.
When Wade, Ryan and Emmit finally get fed up with the abuse, they approach the principal. Unfortunately, a naive faculty falls for Filkins' spin on the situation, and now the kids are in even bigger trouble. So what do they do? They start looking for a bodyguard.
That's where Wilson's character (Drillbit Taylor) comes into play. When he shows up for the interview, he claims to be an ex-black ops operative who has protected everyone from Vice Presidents to Sylvester Stallone; but he is actually an army deserter who lives on the streets, showers on the beach and dreams of getting just enough money to move to Canada where they pay you to take land.
At first, Taylor's goal with these kids is a very short term con. He gets them to let him into their houses and starts taking various random objects under the guise of homemade weaponry and equipment. But when one of his fellow bums, Don (Danny McBride), convinces him that he has hit a gold mine, Taylor sticks with it and starts to make his arrangement more of a longterm con with the hopes of cleaning out the house in the near future. What Taylor doesn't count on is a strong desire to actually help the kids and, after posing as a substitute teacher, falling in love with the English teacher (Leslie Mann).
The Blu-ray version of this movie also comes packed with special features. Not only does it have all of the features found on the DVD version, but there also appears to be a few extras here as well. I especially enjoyed the Line-O-Rama feature that strung together the various ad lib lines the actors put in, as well as a feature that focused on a side character who was all but cut out of the movie and, of course, the Gag Reel and a slew of Deleted Scenes.
A lot of the features are behind the scenes views of specific parts of the movie. For instance, Bully focuses on Filkins, his character and the actor who plays him. Panhandle shows all of the footage of Owen Wilson on the side of the street begging for money. Rap Off shows Gentile and Frost being coached to rap out in front of the school. These are enjoyable features and really help to fill out the disc's features nicely.
I did enjoy Drillbit Taylor quite a bit. The various sub-plots involving Wade's crush on a fellow freshman, Taylor's conflicted feelings about how he is treating the kids and Taylor's overall transformation all fit well into the major storyline of teaching the kids how to handle a bully. The movie has everything from rap-offs, to car chases (well, a car chasing the three kids) and a samurai sword. While it isn't the best and most exceptional film of the year, it is fun and plays out well. Drillbit Taylor is worth a rental at the least, unless you are simply not a fan of Owen Wilson's films, because this is very much his style of movie.
