Drillbit Taylor (2008)

Director:

Steven Brill

Writers:

Kristofor Brown (screenplay) &
Seth Rogen (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 March 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

You get what you pay for.

Plot:

Three kids hire a low-budget bodyguard to protect them from the playground bully. |

Plot Keywords:

Homeless | Fat Kid | Pawnshop | Large House | Matching Shirts

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Nate Hartley	...	Wade
Troy Gentile	...	Ryan
Ian Roberts	...	Jim
Owen Wilson	...	Drillbit Taylor
Casey Boersma	...	Chuck
Dylan Boersma	...	Nick
Lisa Ann Walter	...	Dolores
Beth Littleford	...	Barbara
David Koechner	...	Frightened Dad
Matt Walsh	...	Not for Pot Driver
Janet Varney	...	Attractive Woman Driver
Lisa Lampanelli	...	Ronnie's Mom
Billy O'Neill	...	Dean (as Bill O'Neill)
Shaun Weiss	...	Bus Driver
Jordan Valacich	...	Cute Girl on Stairs (as Jordan Valley)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude sexual references throughout, strong bullying, language, drug references and partial nudity.

Runtime:

USA:109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #43502) | Singapore:PG | Ireland:12A | Sweden:11 | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Finland:K-13 | Germany:12 | Malaysia:U | UK:12A | Netherlands:12 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Adam Baldwin has a cameo as a bodyguard being interviewed. During the interview, he comments on how stupid it is for a bodyguard to protect kids from bullies, while wearing an identical costume to the one he wore in the movie My Bodyguard (1980) (where he played a bodyguard to protect a fellow student from a bully).

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Filkins is brought into the principal's office, the principal says he is emancipated because his parents are out of the US. Later on at Filkins' house they say he's 18. You have to be under 18 to be emancipated in the US. Also, if he was over 18, he would not be forced to go overseas back to his parents.

Quotes:

Guy buying stolen stuff: I tell you what, I'll give you 1,500 for everything.
Don: 1,500? Come on, man. This stuff holds a lot of sentimental value.
Guy buying stolen stuff: To who?
Don: To the poeple I stole it from.
Guy buying stolen stuff: I don't care about them. 1,500.

Movie Connections:

References The Friendly Ghost (1945)

Owen Wilson: Army of One

It's been a while since I wrote one of these but thanks mainly to Owen Wilson for another hilarious (yes and interchangeable) role, this movie was funny enough to get motivated once again.

The premise is obviously pretty simple and has been done before in both bodyguard and teen movies (Superbad and My Bodyguard come to mind...duh). The beauty of this movie it combines the two genres with Owen Wilson's natural comedic talent and three capable younger actors resulting in a mostly funny comedy that is unique from the rest.

There was an interesting metaphor contained in one of the trailers showing Drillbit telling the kids he's taking them under his wing. The reason I say this is interesting is because this is how it mostly worked for the movie's humor. It took almost 15 minutes for it to really get started. Don't get me wrong, there were some funny parts that didn't involve him like the bodyguard interviews (gotta love Frank Whaley's cameo), Ryan's rap off with the bully and the two hitting each other but the biggest laughs for me were from Owen Wilson. To be fair though, Owen was at his best when the kids were involved. I loved the way he approached this "job" with one part seriousness, one part B.S. and two parts hilarious. I was dying when he was holding up that kid's burning popsicle stick project up to the sprinklers and just the general training conversations just to illustrate that recipe.

Overall, this storyline was nothing brilliant but as in You Me and Dupree, Owen Wilson manages to take something that could be rather mediocre turning it into an enjoyable and endearing comedy. True, he really didn't do it by himself as I'd try to make you believe. I mean the way the bullies were portrayed was a very convincing and effective factor that helped sell this one as well and who could forget the lovely Leslie Mann in an interesting and sometimes funny romantic subplot. To sum it all up, if you liked the trailers you're going to like this movie. And a shout to all the people who replied in my thread that convinced me to go myself. You were right.