Drillbit Taylor (2008)

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

Director:

Steven Brill

Writers:

Kristofor Brown (screenplay), Seth Rogen (screenplay)

Stars:

Owen Wilson, Josh Peck, Alex Frost

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Bill O'Neill	...	Dean
Shaun Weiss	...	Bus Driver
Jordan Valacich	...	Cute Girl on Stairs (as Jordan Valley)

Storyline

Homeless veteran Bob 'Drillbit' Taylor manages to enjoy life anyhow and even saves some cash for his dream, an 'all-paid' move to Alaska, even if that may take many years. His dream comes within reach when clever nerd Wade, has fat friend Ryan 'T-dog' and cocky shrimp Jim, all new to high-school, are bullied so badly by emancipated Filkins and his buddies that they advertise for a bodyguard. Only Drillbit seems affordable and not crazy, so he's hired and drains their pocket-money and home content. He's clueless how to protect them but gives them (bogus) self-defense classes.

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Plot Keywords:

bodyguard | high school | nerd | bully | implied sex | 

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Taglines:

The best bodyguard pocket money can buy.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Paramount [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 March 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Drillbit Taylor: Budget Bodyguard

Filming Locations:

3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$10,309,986 (USA) (21 March 2008)

Gross:

$32,853,640 (USA) (13 June 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Apatow Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 102 min (original)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Adam Baldwin: as one of the bodyguards being interviewed. Baldwin convinced Steven Brill to let him wear his jacket from My Bodyguard (1980) for this scene.

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Goofs

When the three boys are sitting in Principal Doppler's office telling him what happened to them by Filkins, he is leaning against the door. He walks in and a person with a checkered shirt (Ronnie?) is walking in following behind him, but then disappears from the scene.

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Quotes

Ryan: Me and Emmit are gonna back you up.
Emmit: Oh, now it's "me and Emmit". You've never been nice to me, Ryan and I've only been kind to you. And I've tried so hard to make this friendship work, but I am not going to die for someone who won't die for me. "Survival technique". I renounce violence. I have a future!

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Crazy Credits

The end credits show a scene of a kid walking into the nurses office asking for help (similar to what Drillbit did when he got punched). Drillbit appears as the school nurse, who then asks the kid who punched him and promising him it will "never happen again".

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Connections

References Cape Fear (1991)

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Soundtracks

King Of The School
Written by Seth Rogers and Jacques Slade

User Reviews

I actually liked it

I'm one of those "indie-films-or-bust" type of people (with my favorite movies ranging from Amelie to the Darjeeling Limited), so when I saw the preview for Drillbit Taylor, it was an immediate turn-off for me. I saw it as boob, nuts, and ass jokes (aka crude teenage humor) and I was not excited to see it. However, an opportunity arose to see the movie well before it came out and I took the chance to see it.

To my great surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie to its fullest. Sure Owen Wilson is funny, but the kids stole the show. The crude humor was left to a minimum and the funniest lines were the really subtle ones that almost everyone missed. This movie had heart and a good message (which you don't normally see in mainstream teenage movies *excluding Juno*). Although I know it's probably not gonna make huge headlines, I feel like this movie needs more recognition than it's gonna get. I want to see this movie go big, and I'm excited to see what people say about it. So take it from me, it's funny and it's not disappointing.