Drillbit Taylor is a movie that comes from the people behind Knocked Up and Superbad, or so the TV ads say anyway. This is the more family friendly version of those movies though, its not as rude as those movies I believe but it does have its own share of humour, being a comedy movie, of course. This is also the last movie that Owen Wilson had worked on before *that* incident in August, I believe filming finished in May or June last year, something like that.
As people probably know, I'm a big fan of Owen Wilson and I had heard about this movie for a few months, apart from him being in it though, I do like a good comedy and the story sounded quite good, so for all those reasons I decided to treat myself to another trip to the cinema to see it and I just got back from seeing it this afternoon, this review is being typed up while the movie is pretty fresh in my mind and I'll try to be as objective as I can be, as ever, of course.
- Main Credits (non-actors, which are mentioned further on in the review) - Source:- IMDB (see:- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0817538/fullcredits)
Director - Steven Brill Writers - John Hughes, Kristofor Brown and Seth Rogen Screen play - Kristofor Brown, Seth Rogen Associate Producer - Desiree Van Til Co-Producer - Kristofor Brown Executive Producer - Richard Vane Producers - Judd Apatow, Susan Arnold, Donna Roth Cinematography - Fred Murphy
- Story (incl. main acting cast) -
Drillbit Taylor tells the story of two rather geeky teen boys (Wade, played by Nate Hartley and Ryan, played by Troy Gentile) who have trouble fitting in at high school, after they try to defend another pupil (Emmit, played by David Dorfman) who gets badly bullied by the big school bully, Filkins (played by Alex Frost), on their very first day of high school. This is, obviously, not the best move for them personally, as it meant that Filkins took pleasure in targeting and bullying them from then on, with the bullying going from bad to worse and it reaches a point where they just can't take it anymore. One day, Wade mentions that he's seen online adverts for bodyguards and this gives the boys the idea to try and get a bodyguard to help protect them from Filkins.
They advertise for a bodyguard in a magazine and go to a local diner to interview the applicants, of which there are quite a few but unfortunately, they just can't afford to pay enough for most. Most, apart from one man, who, of course, is Drillbit Taylor (played by Owen Wilson). Unknown to the boys, Drillbit is a homeless man, (or, as he likes to call himself, someone who lives 'home free'), a US army deserter, who lives on the beach, with few items to his name. He's a pretty friendly guy though and at first, he responds to the boys ad for help (I think he got online by 'borrowing' peoples laptops as he scoured coffee shops and the like) with the thought that they should be pretty well off and could pay him well, as he's wanting to get enough money to move to Canada (where he believes he may be able to claim land I think).
Drillbit starts out by trying to train the boys in defense techniques but it doesn't entirely work and he ends up going into the school, posing as a substitute teacher. Its here where he meets a fellow teacher, Barbara (played by Beth Littleford), who he becomes romantically involved in.
Will he abandon the boys? will Filkins ever be brought to justice, or will Drillbit become too distracted thanks to Barabara to help save the boys' skin? and will anyone discover who Drillbit really is (ie a homeless man)? you'll have to watch the movie to find out.
- Genre/Themes -
This is primarily a teen comedy, with a good dose of sentimentality present. The main themes present are of companionship, belonging and of forgiveness, I feel.
- Thoughts/Opinions/Extra Information -
This is quite a predictable movie but thats not to say that it doesn't work entirely. I felt that, given the story and given what you should presume to expect, if you read up about it and know what its about before going to see it, it does a fairly decent job of it, really. The humour isn't really the constant, laugh out loud type but at the same time, there is humour there and I certainly did laugh a few times while watching it.
If, by hearing like I say in the TV ads that this movie comes from the people behind Knocked Up and Superbad and you go to see it presuming it'll be exactly the same, then you may be a bit dissapointed. I haven't seen those movies myself but I know about them and from what I'm aware, this is much more of a family movie, or one for younger kids (early teens onwards), although you do get quite a few sexual references, to balls and that sort of stuff, otherwise its not entirely the same and the main difference I feel, from what I know of this compared to the other movies, is that this one is alot more sentimental. It really is quite sentimental but I think you would expect that to some degree, again going by the story.
This is another movie that centres in on the underdogs, I guess you could say, what with these young boys who start off so excited to start life in high school and to become popular and get lots of girls (of course!) who get their hopes trampled by one mean bully (and he really does play the part of the bully very well, he certainly looked the type in my opinion!) and then even Drillbit himself, this homeless man who, if the others realised what his real identity was, in that respect, would lose respect for him but of course, the movie shows that these people aren't total losers as they first may seem... it covers all that sort of usual ground, the kind of stuff you would expect of most similar movies. Yes, again this is fairly appealing to me as I suppose I do relate to the story, I wasn't overly bullied at school but I probably was one of the geekier pupils and it certainly does make me glad that I've finished that phase in life!
I felt that the cast all did particularly well in their roles. This movie is good because of the performances, with the three main actors as these young teen boys all giving very good performances, its pretty believable stuff and Owen, of course, gives a pretty good performance too. I certainly wouldn't say that he breaks any new ground, yes again he plays another guy who lives a job free lifestyle, put it that way! how very, Dupree-esque. In fact, I spotted a potential nudge to that movie (You, Me & Dupree) in one scene, mention of the flame retardency in a couch (heh). Okay so its not entirely new ground for him but he plays his role as well as usual and you do build up a liking for all of the characters, pretty much, along with a real dislike (to understate it a bit!) for Filkins! also for Owen fans, you may like to know that yes, there are a couple of butt shots where you see him showering on the beach but I hear a butt double was used there (this is essential information for fans I am sure *serious nod*).
I do sometimes wonder what it is, that I can say in as many words, that I find quite so appealing about these kind of movies, sometimes. I think its mainly the character development, although I notice some other reviews seem to indicate that they didn't find the characters in this movie likeable, I did, why there's that difference? I don't know but I did and its not just Drillbit either but the three boys too, of course.
Also its worth saying that there is quite a big predictability about this movie, again just like Owen plays his usual sort of character, the story is one that you may be able to guess on your own. The ending is also particularly cheesy I felt, though the rest of the movie I guess makes up for that, some of the humour is fairly random so it perhaps isn't entirely predictable but generally speaking, I thought it was.
Also, again I feel that its the characters and the good performances that help to make it more than weak or overly average.
I was thinking of only rating this as satisfactory but I can't help but feel that I'm glad I'd seen it at the cinema, by the end of the movie I was rooting for the guys and for Drillbit and I do feel that I enjoyed seeing it, so in that respect, how can I not rate it as good?
I think this is a movie that most Owen fans should enjoy, if you enjoyed his previous work in movies such as You, Me and Dupree and/or if you like the sound of the story, if you can relate to the story and everything, I think you should enjoy this, if you can get through the sentimentality. I'm kind of swayed between rating it 3 or 4 stars but I think this time I will be nice and rate it 4, its on perhaps the lower side of 4 for good, due mainly to the good performances and some amusing scenes present in it. The humour is fairly random at times too, there's a very random scene at one point, in which Wade's father tries to give him some serious advice after learning that he got a black eye from defending someone, while he's being vibrated on some massage style chair... which is random and crude but kind of funny too. Other funny scenes include when Wade and Ryan decide to fight with each other, in a sort of a fake way, that is quite funny and also a scene where Ryan decides to 'step up' and have a 'rap off' (if thats what they call it?) against Filkins.
Its a little weird, I suppose, the mix of crude language and some such humour with the over sentimentality thats also present but it did seem to work alright, I certainly enjoyed seeing it anyway.
- Certificate -
Drillbit Taylor is rated 12 in the UK. This is due to crude sex references throughout the movie and some bad language, scenes of bullying (of course), references to drugs (mainly pot, nothing too graphic or anything) and apparently, according to IMDB (see:- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0817538/ under 'additional details') partial nudity (ie the Owen butt double shots I presume lol).
There isn't any really strong violence and there aren't any real scenes of drug taking, neither are there any sex scenes or full nudity, nothing like that.
- Official Website -
The official website for Drillbit Taylor can be found here:- http://www.drillbittaylor.com/
Here you'll find information on the movie, a photo gallery, some video clips, downloads (wallpapers, screensavers and icons), a 'high school survival guide', a 'meet the characters' section (with info. on each of the boys and Drillbit), a link to register for updates and so on.
- Conclusions -
While this film hardly breaks any new ground and can be seen as being pretty predictable, as well as having a slightly strange mix of crude language and humour in parts mixed with whats probably over sentimentality, its still a fairly decent movie. Its not fantastic but its ok, I feel I quite enjoyed it and fans of other, similar movies Owen has done should enjoy this too. If the story interests you and you know what to expect (a fairly basic sentimental teen comedy), then this should entertain you. I didn't find myself wondering how long until the end of the movie at any point, which I sometimes do end up worrying when a movie goes on for too long, so I feel that it was about the right length and I did feel that the actors did well in portraying their characters.
While this did seem to be a fairly average movie, as I say I do feel glad that I saw it and that I did find it pretty entertaining, so I'm being perhaps a bit generous and going with a 4 star rating for this. If your not sure about it, then I'd recommend that you wait for it to come out on DVD and rent it or catch it on pay per view, instead of purchasing it on DVD, im not totally sure if its up to many multiple watches but I still enjoyed seeing it, so I would still recommend it, perhaps only to be watched once though.
I hope that this review is useful and thanks, as always, for reading!
More details
Soundtrack
Good
How does it compare to others by the same director?
Satisfactory
Value for Money
Good
What format are you reviewing?
Film only
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