First of all, this isn’t as stupid as you’d think from its title. It’s less stupid than The Adventures of Pluto Nash, or Fred Claus, and much less stupid than Joe Dirt. It comes from a story by John Hughes, a 1980s teen-movie guru before he started writing movies about talking babies, and has a screenplay co-written by Superbad’s Seth Rogen. Thus it’s not too surprising that the heroes are two teenage dweebs targeted by a bully on their first day of high school. Drillbit is a homeless guy, an amiable bullshitter who answers their ad for a bodyguard and is willing to work cheap. Played by Owen Wilson, who has made a specialty of playing amiable bullshitters, Drillbit schools them in little-known self-defense techniques. The humor isn’t too crude; as with You, Me, and Dupree, Wilson walks the line between amusing and annoying. The kids who play the leads, skinny Nate Hartley and chubby Troy Gentile, look the part. It’s not as realistic as 1980’s fine My Bodyguard, but there’s some truth to the story. It’s not super, but it’s not bad.
IMDB link
viewed 3/22/08; reviewed 3/27/08
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