Product Details

• Actors: Owen Wilson
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: July 1, 2008
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0017W295E
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,916 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Drillbit Taylor (Widescreen Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Like Owen Wilson himself, Drillbit Taylor has a loose, shaggy-dog appeal. Wilson plays a homeless ex-soldier who wants to emigrate illegally to Canada--and when three misfit high-school students hire him to protect them from bullies, he sets out to fleece them for the money he needs to get away. Naturally, this being a formulaic crowd-pleaser, he bonds with the kids and discovers that maybe his life isn't so worthless after all. Fortunately for moviegoers, the creators of Drillbit Taylor (including co-writer Seth Rogen, star of Knocked Up) have the wit to tweak the formula and give what could have been prefabricated and bland some grit, surprises, and genuine laughs (as well as an allusion to this movie's obvious inspiration, the 1980 teen-movie classic My Bodyguard). While nowhere near as funny (or as rude) as Rogen's previous co-writing effort, the dorkily sublime Superbad, Drillbit Taylor benefits from a similar grasp of the genuine cravings and frustrations of adolescence. Still, it's Wilson's movie, and his slacker-romantic rhythm gives the hmor its swing. Also featuring Leslie Mann (The 40-Year-Old Virgin), who is woefully underutilized as Wilson's love interest. One sneaky bit of casting: The main bully is played by Alex Frost, who played an unhappy teen driven to shoot up his school in director Gus Van Sant's Elephant. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

DRILLBIT TAYLOR tells the story of three nerdy adolescents who, on their very first day of high school, find themselves the target of a merciless, near psychotic bully. The friends band together and pool their funds to hire a personal bodyguard, Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson). Taylor, a homeless beach bum and AWOL army soldier, plans to con the kids just long enough to pull together the money needed to amscray off to Canada. A momentary flash of a conscience and a growing crush on a teacher at the boys' high school, however, compels Drillbit to stick around, do the right thing, and ultimately save the day. The movie is fluff to the extreme, and because it's from the duo of Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow it's easy to long for more. There's a remarkably talented comic cast here, though, that includes, among others, Upright Citizens Brigade veteran Matt Walsh, former Daily Show correspondent Beth Littleford, and indie favorite Frank Whaley. And while it never reaches the near poetic heights of vulgarity to be found in SUPERBAD and KNOCKED UP, one can sense Rogen and Apatow's supreme wit poking around the edges of the film. Where DRILLBIT does succeed, however, is as a fun movie for pre- and early-adolescent boys. KNOCKED UP and 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN deal with some adult subject matter, meaning the plots are driven by issues that 13-year-olds most likely can not relate to, and SUPERBAD is raunchy to the point where parents might not want their kids to see it until they can at least drive. DRILLBIT, on the other hand, strikes a nice middle ground, as it deals with the age-old problem of the high school bully and throws in just enough raunch & roll to keep the sleepover rowdy until dawn.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre, October 11, 2008

By	P. Novak - See all my reviews

I was really looking forward to this movie as I'm usually a fan of Owen Wilson, but I have to say this one was a bit dull. If I had to guess, I'd say the potential humor was toned back to get a PG-13 rating.

On the plus side there are some funny parts such as the body guard interviews, the training sequences, and Owen Wilson as a gym teacher. There was a lot of room to expand these parts and make the movie funnier.

On the negative I think the whole robbery aspect detracted from the film. It didn't add much to your opinion of Owen's character, and the scenes with the other homeless guys were rather pointless.

All in all I think there are much better Owen Wilson movies (Wedding Crashers, anything with Ben Stiller) and better high school movies, this one didn't stand out.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Drillbit Taylor, April 4, 2008

By	Michael Zuffa (Racine, WI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Wade (Hartley), Ryan (Gentile), and Emmitt (Dorfman) are three nerdy kids in need of protection. School bully Filkins (Frost) has decided to make their lives a living hell. After about a week of dealing with this, they decide to hire a bodyguard. Constrained by money, they opt for Drillbit Taylor (Wilson), an ex-military man who is currently homeless and trying to make enough money to get to Canada. Drillbit is less than impressive though, and has to come up with a plan quickly if he wants to help the kids and himself as well.

"Drillbit Taylor" fits the mold of the Judd Apatow-produced films, albeit in PG-13 form. Think of it as Judd Apatow-light, and that is fine because he knows what makes good movies. Sweetness, likeable characters, and raunchy comedy make up the mix, and for "Drillbit Taylor", the raunchiness is toned back to give it a PG-13 rating. Wilson is very good as Drillbit, a con-man of sorts that really isn't that good at things. "Drillbit Taylor" is an amusing addition to the Apatow family of films.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Drillbit Taylor Movie Review, March 27, 2008

By	thejoelmeister "www.GoneWithTheTwins.com" (www.GoneWithTheTwins.com) - See all my reviews

Drillbit Taylor makes quite an accomplishment in that it is a PG-13-rated film that has the feel of last year's R-rated Superbad. Most of the vulgarity that made Apatow's previous venture inappropriately hilarious has absconded to unknown horizons, and Drillbit is left with utilizing more crafty means at achieving laughs. Not necessarily more intelligent, but certainly less crude, the similarly hilarious lead characters all find their perfect places in this consistently amusing comedy.

Three kids experience bullying at school by antagonizer Filkins, an emancipated student who revels in terrorizing smaller kids. On their first day at high school, Wade (Nate Hartley as the Harry-Potter-like scrawny kid), Ryan (Troy Gentile as the overweight kid with the never-ending ranting) and Emmit (David Dorfman as the kid-who-gets-shoved-in-a-locker) can't seem to evade constant humiliation at the hands of nemesis Filkins. Only able to take so much, the three decide to hire a bodyguard to defend them. In a riotous job-interview montage, the trio chooses Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson), an ex-black-ops and improvised weapons expert, who teaches them to stick up for themselves. During the process, Drillbit gets sidetracked with aggressive teacher Lisa (Leslie Mann) and the truth that he is nothing more than a homeless bum who yearns for the good life in Canada.

Drillbit Taylor, like Superbad, derives much of its humorous moments by forcing many continual little laughs. Quick jokes follow rapid slapstick to allow the audience to pick and choose what tickles their funny-bones. When some gags don't work, instant new ribs replace them so that no one can sit still for long. But most unique is the idea that the majority of the humor does not rely on crudeness, but the friendlier grounds of physical comedy (undergoing torment by bullies) and unexpectedly nonsensical dialogue (the love chatter between Drillbit and Lisa).

Again this comedy falls into the same storyline quicksand that plagues most recent comedies, which is allowing the conflict to become too serious. No one doubts the fact that the plot is absolutely ridiculous and that most of the concepts are exaggerated to the point of absurdity, but within this fantasy world of nerds and bullies, some things we hope to remain realistic. Things like vengeance against the bullies, getting the girls, and staying out of serious harm's way. These concepts are approached with little justice to realism, and so results in a conclusion that can only be as unlikely as the samurai-sword-wielding antagonist. That's not to say that any of it was intended to be faithful to the stereotypical perception of high school life, but most of it appears that way from the get-go.

"As long as you have a coffee cup in your hand, nobody says nothing," explains Drillbit, on his ease at infiltrating the school as a substitute teacher. And so as long as the humor remains appealingly gut-busting, no one questions the reasoning behind much of the juvenile antics. Where Superbad focused on nonstop sexual and gross-out humor, Drillbit stays refreshingly clean with its parody of the cool kids and the un-cool kids frequenting a typical high school. And (comedic) revenge against persecution is one of the most universally inviting themes to watch.

- Mike Massie