| | | You Get What You Pay For.
Features: DVD, English, Dolby Digital (5.1), Dolby, Digital Audio, French, Pan and Scan (TV Format), Theatrical Version
Owen Wilson gives a hilariously funny performance as a beach bum soldier of fortune who is hired by three high schoolers being tormented by the resident school bullies. It's nerds get revenge in a big way with sidesplitting deleted scenes not shown in theaters and outrageous outtakes you'll want to watch over and over. You wont be able to stop laughing as Drillbit (Wilson) trains these kids so they can ultimately turn the tables and exact their revenge!
"Owen Wilson is hilarious!" Don Sanchez, ABC-TV
"...it's nice to know that there are still filmmakers ready to respect the eternal struggles of freaks and geeks." Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
"Big laughs with a lot of heart." Pete Hammond, Box Office Magazine
"Awesome! The freshest and funniest comedy in a long time." Shawn Edwards, FOX-TV
"There are winning scenes between Wilson and the three teens as they train in various martial arts..." Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Editor's Note
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.
| Features | Audio Commentary By Steven Brill, Kristofor Brown, Troy Gentile, Nate Hartley & David Dorfman | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Deleted & Extended Scenes | | Featurettes: Rap Off, Sprinkler Day, Bully, Directing Kids, The Real Don - Danny McBride, & The Writers Get A Chance To Talk - Kristofor Brown & Seth Rogen | | Gag Reel | | Interactive Menus | | Line-O-Rama | | Scene Selection |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Paramount |
| Release Date: 1/27/2009 |
| Running Time: 101 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2008 | | Catalog ID: 344064 | | UPC: 00097363440642 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]here's a great turn from Gentile....The real draw, though, is the ever likeable, ever schmoozy Wilson." 05/01/2008 p.48Sight and Sound
"Wilson's talent for out-of-leftfield adlibs hasn't deserted him..." 04/01/2008 p.54 Reel.com 9 of 10
Putting together a film like this is no easy task. The man-child suddenly loaded with mentoring duties setup is an easy road to Syruptown, but screenwriters Kristofor Brown and Seth Rogen (yes, that Seth Rogen) deliver a solid script that misses that exit completely, delivering a PG-13 version of the banter that made the latter's Superbad script so infectious...Despite a less-than-favorable track record that includes Without a Paddle and Mr. Deeds, director Steven Brill finds just the right balance of the sweet, absurd, and outrageous to keep us charmed...The influence of producer Judd Apatow seems apparent here, since that mix seems to be his specialty...The comic chemistry of the three pint-sized leads is considerable. While Gentile often comes off as a mini-Jonah Hill, that's not exactly a bad thing. Hartley gives the film's strongest performance, finding a range within his character that's probably not even necessary for the film he's in...Drillbit Taylor doesn't have anything particularly new to say about bullies or using violence to stand up for yourself. And though it's all in good fun, it's still kind of difficult to work a My Bodyguard premise in a post-Columbine age. But the film never pretends to take on anything so daunting. What it sets out to do, and effectively so, is to wring some giggles out of the insecurities we all feel on that first day of school. - David Thomas
ReelViews 6 of 10
Drillbit Taylor is a study in mediocrity and the only way anyone would be aware it came from Judd Apatow and his posse would be to read the credits. It saddles the talented comedic actor Owen Wilson with a virtually laughless script and forces him to wallow in a pond of shallow, artificial sentimentality. This is the kind of thing that Apatow normally skews. Here, director Steven Brill, abetted by screenwriters Kristofer Brown & Seth Rogan, embraces it...Little needs to be said about Owen Wilson's work in Drillbit Taylor: he's a gifted actor stuck with a bad script that requires him (or his stunt double) to show his buns. His young co-stars, Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile, and David Dorfman, aren't as effective. In fact, Hartley is downright awful - there are a number of "serious" scenes where the camera catches him smirking, and he seems clueless when it comes to the difference between comedy and light drama. This could in part be the fault of director Brill, who may lack the aptitude to cull the best performances from his young protagonists...There's an autopilot feeling to the project that suggests it was shepherded through its production by a group more interested in creating a marketable product than making a movie. It ends up feeling like a paint-by-numbers affair that isn't as funny or enjoyable as many viewers will expect it to be. - James Berardinelli
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