Drillbit Taylor (2008) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

USA 2008
Director: Steven Brill
Cast: Owen Wilson, Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile, David Dorfman, David Koechner
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: 21 March 2008
Running Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

The Movie Review

Bodyguard? For high school students? Well I guess everything could be a source for jokes then, if the idea and the taste match it. Remember how it was like back in your first day on high school? I do, and Drillbit Taylor strikes me that some guys are just not as lucky as I was. Drillbit Taylor was released in March 2008 with a crazy budget for almost as much as $ 39 million dollar which went to what department, I don't know. And this comedy movie is headlined by one of the members of Frat Pack, Owen Wilson.

Drillbit Taylor's storyline revolves around three new students who often being bullied even at their first day in high school. Any sort of horrible thing that a high school student could do has been inflicted upon those three geeks. Soon enough


DRILLBIT TAYLOR
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
Overall:

the chubby Ryan, the skinny Wade and the supergeeky Emmet are desperately searching for a bodyguard who are willing to be paid extra-low (high school student's budget) to protect them from the bullies. Enter Drillbit (Owen Wilson), a bum that often showers naked in front of the public by the nearest beach, in his own desperate attempt to earn money to go to the great white north a.k.a Canada. At first Drillbit does his protection job half-heartedly and sees the kids only as a cash cow, but after Wade shows genuine friendship to Drillbit, Drillbit starts to do his job seriously before the kids know who Drillbit Taylor really is and before it's too late.

Well I've actually never heard that someone could be that unfortunate or desperate that he needed a bodyguard to defend him from bullies, besides as far as I can remember Bullies are only exist on elementary school or probably in junior high school, maximum. But then again, for this premise to work (read: believable), there are several things that the filmmakers need to do, and fortunately they've done it well. The bullies, Filkins (Alex Frost) and Ronnie (Josh Peck) are given the dialogue and the characters that are despicable, despicable to the limit that the audience would agree that the geeks should hire professional bodyguard. Alex Frost's acting is good to enliven the character, not over-the-top but enough to make his character mean and threatening. The geeks are also sympathetic, their dialogue and everyday life show the audience clearly that they're actually just regular students who simply want to get along in the new community. Owen Wilson who in this film appears alone, not with the rest members of the Frat Pack (Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn among others), can't be said giving the best performance of his acting career, but simply good enough to mingle with the rest of the story, recalling that he has appeared in a war movie before in Behind Enemy Lines (2001).

The jokes in Drillbit Taylor are there, but not the type of laugh-out-loud-till-your-stomach-is-hurt, nope. But only regular laugh that thankfully quite many. But it's the storyline which is intriguing. Drillbit Taylor safely plays on the balance beam of comedy and action/drama with a nice payback in the end. The pace of the movie is quite fast and enjoyable, enjoyable enough to watch if you don't have any other options.