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:

Nate Hartley, Owen Wilson, 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
Billy O'Neill	...	Dean (as Bill O'Neill)
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 junior 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 | bully | nerd | reference to blade runner | fat kid | 

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Taglines:

Budget Bodyguard

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Genres:

Comedy

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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 [fr]

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:

£724,738 (UK) (28 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

John Hughes' final film as a writer before his death in 2009.

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Goofs

When the Tiger Services bodyguard is being interviewed and puts his hand in the cup of coffee from another table, the smoke moves out of the cup and down, although real coffee smoke/steam would just go up.

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Quotes

Ronnie: Holy crap, you guys are retarded!

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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 King Kong (1933)

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Soundtracks

"Cha Cha Cha"
Written by James D'Angelo, Leo Johns, Jimmy Kelleher, Marc Lanjean,
Henri Salvador and Marcel Stellman
Performed by Jimmy Luxury and The Tommy Rome Orchestra
Courtesy of WORK/Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Contains a sample of "Cha Cha Cha D'Amour (Melodie D'Amour)"
Written by Leo Johns, Marc Lanjean, Henri Salvador and Marcel Stellman
Performed by Dean Martin
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

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.