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:

Bodyguard | Bully | Stealing | Homeless | Pawnshop

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

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)

Also Known As:

Drillbit Taylor: Budget Bodyguard (USA) (poster title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

110 min | 102 min (original version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | Ireland:12A | Netherlands:12 | UK:12A | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43502) | Germany:12 | Sweden:11 | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Finland:K-13 | Argentina:13 | New Zealand:PG | Iceland:10 | Iceland:12 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Drillbit is talking to Don about going to Canada, he says that a ticket would cost roughly about $287, he'd have to throw in $50 for bribing the Mounties and a good winter jacket would cost about $80. He said that the total cost would be $387 all together, but if you add up the cost of the bribe and jacket, which is a total of $130, to the cost of the ticket, $287, the total cost would be $417, not $387.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Drillbit Taylor: Hoorah!

Movie Connections:

References Scarface (1983)

Another inventive comedy from the Apatow crew

I love IMDb.com. I just came here (after seeing the movie) and saw that John Hughes (using a pseudonym) was one of the writers of this movie. That makes sense, because the movie covers the awkwardness, danger and constant potential for life-ruining humiliation that is freshman year high school. Being "skinny, scared and lonely", as Drillbit Taylor puts it.

One of the other writers is the awesome Seth Rogen, co-writer & co-star of "Superbad" and co-star of "Knocked Up".

Owen Wilson is funny, sexy and heartwarming in this role. The trio of geeky lads who hire Owen as their protector are all played by wonderful young actors. The Apatow organization seems to have a genius for finding great and funny teen actors. I was especially impressed by Alex Frost (he plays the bully) who I think has stardom in his future.

The small roles of the film are filled by standup comics and "The Daily Show" alumni. Good talent all around.

The movie is not perfect. It's front-loaded -- meaning the first half has so many laughs you can't hear all the lines for the laughter. Then it suddenly slows down in the second half. It's still interesting -- just not as funny. And when you get to the violent fighting, that dries up the laughs.

Overall though, any film from the Apatow organization is going to be 6 times funnier and more inventive than the average movie comedy out there. So go have some laughs.