Drillbit Taylor wastes the considerable comedic talents of its star Owen Wilson. Wilson’s character is one dimensional here, and he struggles throughout to overcome the film’s stiff and unnatural dialogue, ultimately falling short because the material isn’t in the least challenging for him nor is it amusing. 

Ryan (Troy Gentile) and best-friend Wade (Nate Hartley) were looking forward to starting high school -- until a thug named Filkins (Alex Frost) began bullying them. It appears Filkins took exception when Wade stepped in to stop a one-sided school fight against the much smaller Emmit (David Dorfman.)

Filkins’s hatred intensifies when Principal Doppler (Stephen Root) makes him defend himself against allegations he bullied them. He admits to mildly hazing the boys, which prompts Emmit to insist Filkins’s parents be called. Emmit is horrified upon learning that Filkins answers to nobody because he is emancipated and was declared an adult by law.  

Desperate now, Wade posts a bulletin on an Internet job site seeking a professional bodyguard. He realizes this is the only way he and his friends can make it through the school year and keep Filkins from inflicting further pain. Unfortunately, they only have $83.00 between them to hire someone. This doesn’t deter them from conducting in-depth interviews with potential candidates who all balk at the paltry sum. The only person they can afford who’s willing to work for them is Drillbit Taylor (Wilson).

After telling the youngsters he’s a U.S. Army veteran and former bodyguard to Sylvester Stallone, Drillbit gets the job and seals the deal by speaking at length about his deadly combat skills. In reality, Drillbit is homeless. His plan involves gaining access to the boys’ homes so he and his friends can break in later to steal their possessions. He aims to sell their belongings and hightail it to Canada for a fresh start.

Ryan, Wade and Emmit second guess themselves about having hired Drillbit when he's consistently missing whenever they face peril. After confronting him, they give Drillbit a makeover to look like one of their teachers so he can watch out for them at school. This disguise works a little too well when Principal Doppler mistakes him for a substitute teacher and assigns him to teach a class. Drillbit then meets Lisa (Leslie Mann), another teacher, and they immediately hit it off. Of course, Lisa is blissfully unaware of Drillbit’s real identity. Will the truth about Drillbit ever be revealed? Can Wade, Evan and Ryan find a way to defeat Filkins?

One of the movie’s many drawbacks involves Gentile, Hartley and Dorfman’s lack of chemistry and believability as friends. Relative newcomers, they struggle to contend with the quick-witted Wilson. Also, Frost’s character seems like a cliché, turning up periodically to move the plot forward by harassing the protagonists. Even more important, because director Steven Brill fails to take any risks with Seth Rogen and Kristofer Brown’s predictable screenplay, Drillbit Taylor ends up being more sleep inducing than entertaining.   

(Released by Paramount Pictures and rated "PG-13" for crude sexual references throughout, strong bullying, language, drug references and partial nudity.)

For more information about this movie, go to the Internet Movie Data Base or Rotten Tomatoes website.