Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Drillbit Taylor



There comes a time in every comedic actor's career when they cast aside the old Hollywood adage of "never work with children" and they... agree to work with children. This almost always has a horrible outcome, but Owen Wilson does his best to succeed where so many actors have failed before. And it kind of works.

I ignored all the warning signs for Drillbit Taylor and focused on the names attached to this project while making my decision to rent it. Judd Apatow, Seth Rogan, John Hughes (Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off) and Steven Brill (director of Heavyweights) all have their names on the back of the box so I figured I would give it a shot.

From the opening sequences we learn that our two young leading men are about to embark on their first day of high school. Worried about being popular and about avoiding bullies they set out to make their first day the best it can be. All of their planning goes to waste when Wade tries to stop two bullies from picking on the nerdiest kid in school and now all three of the boys face a year of torment at the hands of an 18 year old high schooler and Josh from Nickelodeon's Drake and Josh. So the kids hire Drillbit Taylor an ex Black Ops soldier to be their bodyguard, only problem is Taylor isn't who he says he is.

The jokes are funny for the most part. The movie relies heavily on slapstick and has its fair share of obvious Seth Rogan comparison humor (you look like _____, it's kind of like ______). If you think its funny to watch little kids get punched around and use swear words you'll like Drillbit Taylor. It's a funny movie, you may not roll on the floor laughing but you will get a kick out of the dialogue and the situations the boys find themselves in. And you can't argue with a Blade Runner reference (probably another Seth Rogan joke). Owen Wilson's character probably could have been played by anyone, he does a good job, but the characters of Ryan and Wade make the movie. The final showdown between the boys and the bullies is hilarious. I would recommend this movie for this scene alone.

Bottom line is Drillbit Taylor is a cute and funny movie that probably should have been a lot worse. If you were a fan of Heavyweights I suggest you check this one out. Drillbit Taylor surprised me and hopefully it will surprise you too. The only thing that could have made this movie better would have been a Kennan Thompson cameo, but then I wouldn't have had anything to complain about.

Drillbit Taylor gets 3/5.

-Dude, That Movie Sucked

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Hancock



As far as super hero movies go, Hancock was actually full of surprises. None of the surprises being any good, but surprises none the less.

Will Smith plays John Hancock (the nurse at the hospital asked him for his "John Hancock"...get it?) a drunken super hero asshole who can't seem to do anything right who, after meeting a PR guy named Ray Embry, decides straighten out his life and be the super hero the world needs.

And that's the plot... except not at all.

After all of this takes place, something happens that completely changes everything about this movie. I won't tell you what it is and ruin the surprise, but it happens an hour into the the 90 minute movie and it manages to ruin any salvageable piece of entertainment. It felt like a cheap sequel plot.

Hancock is poorly written. The ongoing gags and cheap "potty mouth" humor get old fast. Everything you would expect a foul mouthed Hancock to say, he does. All the slapstick humor is expected and unoriginal. Again bringing about the feeling of a cheap sequel.

If you have ever seen anything directed by Peter Berg, you know what this movie looks like. Long drawn out, out of focus and off center shots. I normally enjoy his work, however with Hancock it seemed out of place. He would use his signature shooting styles when the tone of the movie dropped below fun super hero movie and into obvious drama making the shooting styles repetitive.

The only thing missing from this Berg flick is an entire soundtrack composed by Explosions in the Sky. Instead in the opening action sequence we are treated to an edited version of the 6 year old hit single by Ludacris - "Move Bitch". Awesome.

One saving grace (and I use that term only because I don't know of another one to use) of Hancock is the decent amount of strange cameos. The young Michael Myers from the Rob Zombie's Halloween makes an appearance, David from Roseanne shows up, Lieutenant Jim Dangle from Reno 911 pops up, and DayDay from Next Friday comes in at the end. I'm sure there are more, but you get my point.

As an original feature length motion picture, Hancock fails. It is hardly original and a little hard to watch. It is a poor choice for the one film a year Will Smith, but I'm sure he still made millions. So he can just toss it in the Oops Pile along with Men in Black II, Bad Boys II, Hitch, Shark Tale, Wild Wild West, and that one episode of Fresh Prince where he won't date Queen Latifah because of her weight.

I give Hancock 2 Will Smith summer movies, out of 5.

-Dude, That Movie Sucked