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Producer Judd Apatow brought us the offbeat comedies “Knocked Up” and “Superbad,” but his efforts fall flat in his new film “Drillbit Taylor,” a makeshift attempted-comedy that is hardly worthy of being a made-for-TV movie.
Cliché plot devices from every high school bully film you’ve ever seen are on shameless display and are as predictable as sunrise and sunset.
Owen Wilson plays a homeless veteran who is hired by a couple of teenage nerds to protect them from the bigger kids picking on them. What follows is too stupid to explain in detail.
Suffice to say his charade as a substitute teacher and related events are not to be taken seriously.
It’s clear that Owen Wilson has become the star of choice for producers making mediocre lame-brain comedies.
No shred of originality is allowed to intrude on the predictable formulas that promise laughter but produce groans of boredom from any thinking adult.
As for the young teen males who are the target audience, I believe old video games they’ve already played a thousand times might hold more interest than this childish nonsense.
It’s not even worth renting.
‘Meet the Browns’ reprises Perry’s best
Popular writer-director Tyler Perry has built an entertainment empire with his mix of melodrama, faith and raucous humor. In “Meet the Browns” we get his greatest hits, but with the added bonus of Angela Bassett.
Bassett plays Brenda, a single mother of three desperately trying to make ends meet in the Chicago projects. She receives a letter that her father, whom she never knew, has died in Georgia. She also receives bus tickets to attend the funeral.
Having suddenly lost her job and with no electricity, she decides to go.
She gets a warm welcome from most of the Brown family, even though they don’t know who she is. There are some very funny scenes at the dinner table when the late Deacon Brown’s skeletons are dragged out of the closet.
There’s a hunky basketball coach (former Laker Rick Fox) who tries to help her son better his chances for a career in the pros.
Bassett’s performance lends gravitas to the story, and Jenifer Lewis provides the spice as tart-tongued sister Vera.
Tyler Perry himself makes a small appearance in his signature role as Madea, the family matriarch.
As with Rick Fox’s acting, “Meet the Browns” is pleasant, non-threatening and sure to please its fan base.
If Perry could just tone down the buffoonery and add a little more grit to his formula, his films could be a slam dunk.
JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a financial services company.
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