Drillbit Taylor (2008)
Directed by Steven Brill
Dealing with a sociopathic school bully, three high school freshmen hire a low-budget bodyguard to protect them, not realizing he is just a homeless beggar and petty thief looking for some easy cash.
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On the first day of high school, buddies Ryan (Troy Gentile, “Nacho Libre”) and Wade (newcomer Nate Hartley) and new sidekick Emmit (David Dorfman, “The Ring”) become targeted by senior bully Filkins (Alex Frost, “Elephant”) who makes their life such a battlefield they think their only hope for peace is their own professional bodyguard.
That first day of school also includes an epic embarrassment at the hands of two bullies: Filkins (Alex Frost of Elephant) and his lapdog Ronnie (Josh Peck of The Wackness).
Superbad (2007) offered us three über-dork high-school seniors desperate to fit in and get laid, and here we have essentially the same three kids as freshmen desperate only not to be killed by the school bully (Alex Frost, Elephant).
If inadvertently wearing matching shirts isn't enough to draw a target on the boys' foreheads, Wade's meek attempt at rescuing the pint-sized Emmit ("The Ring's" David Dorfman) from hallway locker entombment draws the attention of the crazed Filkins (Alex Frost, who made his debut as one of the picked-on kids who turn to violence in Gus Van Sant's Columbine- inspired drama, “Elephant” ).
Nobody attending the film's McKinley High 2 ever texts each other or boasts of how many MySpace friends they have or goes to a class with computers on the desks, and the cheeky casting of Elephant 's Alex Frost notwithstanding, this is a movie about bullying that evidently takes place in some alternate universe where Columbine didn't happen, since none of the adult characters treat the threat of school violence seriously.
Owen Wilson plays a homeless Army vet who accepts a job as a bodyguard for three exceedingly nerdy high school freshmen (the well-cast Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile and David Dorfman) against the most sadistic, psychopathic bully ever filmed (Alex Frost, who played the killer in Gus Van Sant's Elephant ).
In fact, if recent film history were a high school cafeteria, “The DUFF” would probably be sharing a table with such wannabes as “Revenge of the Nerds,” “Drillbit Taylor,” and Adam Sandler.
Zac Efron fails to impress with his first major headlining roleMatthew Perry (2004's " The Whole Ten Yards ") plays the older version of Mike with more depth and less screen timewhile game supporting performances from Leslie Mann (2008's " Drillbit Taylor "), Michelle Trachtenberg (2006's " Black Christmas ") and Thomas Lennon (2009's " I Love You, Man ") are wasted on a tone-deaf, half-written script that does them no favors.