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 | generation y | 

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Taglines:

Budget Bodyguard

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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

The first and only time Seth Rogen has collaborated with someone other than Evan Goldberg, his regular writing partner, on a screenplay.

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Goofs

Filkins' car doesn't have a front plate, which all cars in the state of California are supposed to have. This could simply be an addition to his long list of misdeeds.

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Quotes

Filkins: You're Siamese queers, bitches!

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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 Scarface (1983)

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Soundtracks

Let's Play Two
Written by Sue Sandberg and Jesse Valenzuela
Performed by The Gin Blossoms (as Gin Blossoms)
Courtesy of Hybrid Recordings, LLC
By Arrangement with Zync Music Inc.

User Reviews

Oh Judd, disappointing

I watched this film after I got kicked out of rec. Which looked much better and was. The film disappointing especially because of the high quality films Apatow usually puts out there.

Starts of with the kids getting bullied and finding a "bodygaurd" who will work cheap. It has morals like all the other Judd Apatow films yet these morals are so in your face, it's incredibly annoying. The plot is predictable from the start and The actors playing the kids are annoying, bad at acting and very strange looking (I couldn't keep my eye off the small kid with braces, he was so strange looking it was distracting) all rolled into one.

However, if you can get past this, the film has some funny yet forgettable moments. Most of these involving Owen Wilson who is the angel of this below average movie. He has a great charisma about him in all his films, however he needs some sparring partner to hit lines off rather than a bunch of strange looking 14 year old kids.

In conclusion, the film is below average yet has some funny parts, most of them becoming overshadowed by the poor acting and predictable plot. Highly Disappointing for a Apatow film.