If there is one story Judd Apatow knows how to tell best, it has to be that of The American Geek. He's adept at striking box-office gold by getting to the very heart and soul of geek-dom giving every pocket-calculator-toting high-school misfit and sex-hungry awkward college freshman a voice.

So, what makes the latest Apatow-produced teen project Drillbit Taylor disappointing is that it comes across like the pimply younger cousin of Superbad.

Co-written by regular collaborator Seth Rogen, Drillbit plays more like a prequel for Apatow's far more original and entertaining comedy, Knocked Up (which starred Rogen).

With its young stars looking exactly like mini high-school freshmen versions of the three Superbad protagonists, the story switches from booze to bullies, but is told with the same left-field humour and raunchy jokes.

The first part of the film, with its montage of bodyguard interviewees and scenes of high-school torment, garners more laughs. Helped by the natural and talented performances of newcomer Nate Hartley (who plays the tall and scrawny Wade), Nacho Libre's Troy Gentile (acerbic chubby Ryan) and The Ring's David Dorfman (dweeby little Emmit), the film works best when it focuses on these three lovable underdogs.

Instead, it is the adults who let this film down. Star Owen Wilson occasionally shines with his familiar lazy charm and comedic timing but never fully connects with the audience and delivers a ho-hum performance as con artist-turned-role model Drillbit.

Even with obvious nods to the hilarious John Hughes teen movies of the '80s (he even gets a story credit under the pen name Edmond Dantes) and My Bodyguard (with a cameo by Bodyguard star Adam Baldwin), director Steven Brill's uneven pacing ultimately kills the flow of laughter. This makes Drillbit an indistinct film that isn't particularly idiotic or especially offensive or exceptionally funny it just is. - TODAY/ar