‘Drillbut Taylor’: Owen Wilson reduced to slumming in a crass take on ‘My Bodyguard’

Owen Wilson is so much better than the material in “Drillbit Taylor” that it’s sometimes painful to watch. How did it get to this?

“Drillbit” isn’t even awful, exactly. Just a microwave-warmed-over movie, about some bullied high school kids who hire a homeless guy to act as their bodyguard.

You might remember a 1980 film, “My Bodyguard,” that had a similar plot. The producers of this movie did, too, which explains a cameo by the actor that played the bodyguard in that movie, Adam Baldwin.

This being the 21st century, “Drillbit Taylor” is a lot crasser and broader than that film. Here, the victims are a couple of “Superbad” types, played by skinny Nate Hartley and chubby Troy Gentile. They also have an even more abject sidekick, a tiny guy played by David Dorfman (who gets some of the biggest laughs). He’s this movie’s version of McLovin from “Superbad,” a guy who seems nerdy even to nerds.

They’re getting pushed around by a school bully (Alex Frost, from “Elephant”). Clearly, a hero is needed. One who will work cheap.

Wilson, who had completed this movie before his reported suicide attempt last year, plays the homeless man. He takes the bodyguard gig because he can get some quick cash and fleece the kids of their iPods.

Perhaps something will happen during the film that might bring about a change of heart, but I wouldn’t dream of giving away the story, especially if you’ve never seen a movie before.

Wilson isn’t really on screen very much, although he has a few signature moments of verbal dexterity. The kids are fine, and Leslie Mann (“Knocked Up”) provides her usual ration of slightly whacked sex appeal.

The movie is another offering from “40-Year-Old Virgin” man Judd Apatow’s factory, with a script co-written by “Superbad” scribe-star Seth Rogen. The story was partly written by onetime teen-movie titan John Hughes, who uses a pseudonym here, Edmund Dantes, taken from “The Count of Monte Cristo.” Whatever.

Director Steve Brill, whose dismal record includes “Without a Paddle” and “Mr. Deeds,” does best at letting the actors express their own personalities. When even Owen Wilson can’t make that tactic work, you’ve got a problem.