What Do The Critics Say?

"Steven Brill ("Mr. Deeds") seems to have directed the show in a carefree mood: The scenes are crisp, and the action flows with uncomplicated ease. The comedy here could easily go awry, but Brill makes panhandling and sleeping under the stars look like a relaxing California dream. Playfulness is the film's saving grace, and Wilson's middle name. If the film doesn't quite measure up to the Apatow gold standard, it's at least sterling silver." Colin Covert STAR TRIBUNE "Drillbit Taylor goes down with ease when it isn't trying too hard. This may not be a great teen comedy, but it is a warm and smart one." Dustin Putman THE MOVIE BOY "While there is still some questionable humor, and there are some tasteless sexual references, the film is very sweet and recalls the cultily adored 1980 hit My Bodyguard in almost all the right ways." Jeff Vice DESERET NEWS "You've got to hand it to Owen Wilson. He has an uncanny ability to delivery the loopiest of lines without losing credibility. And there are a bundle of loopies in this off-beat comedy in which Wilson plays the paid bodyguard to three high school nerds in a bid to ward off the psychotic school bully. The three young boys are excellent, and I especially like Hartley's pale and puny Wade whose crush on Brooke (Valerie Tian) becomes a running plot point. Drillbit Taylor is the kind of film that makes you laugh despite yourself. And isn't that what we all need, now and again?" Louise Keller URBANCINEFILE

"With his laconic attitude, Owen Wilson has a talent for making dumb material funny. That talent serves him greatly in Drillbit Taylor. Even though it has more flaws than most Team Apatow pictures, "Drillbit Taylor" shares their gregarious nature. The three nerds (who superficially resemble the central "geeks" of Apatow's radiant TV show "Freaks and Geeks") are touching as well as funny, with gangly newcomer Hartley in particular showing latent strengths beneath his vulnerability. And of course the cast is led by the enormously likable Wilson, who tosses off words of slacker nonsense as if they came to him from Solomon." Jeffrey Westhoff NORTHWEST HERALD "It's all entertaining, especially with the Apatow-patented dialogue, in this case from screenwriters Kristofor Brown and Seth Rogen. The movie shares DNA with a bunch of '80s teen flicks, but it's still funny, if not exactly filled with surprises." Chris Farnsworth E!ONLINE "Kristofor Brown and Seth Rogen's script is full of surprises. We’ve seen so many of these movies about nerds standing up to bullies by now that it’s hard to believe anyone could find anything new in the genre ... director Steven Brill and his cast deliver a comedy ass kicking. " Joshua Tyler CINEMABLEND "It’s the character bits along the edges of the movie that keep things lively, like the way Filkins successfully charms the teachers in one scene, then tries to literally kill the boys with a samurai sword the next; or the way the Asian kid on the promenade belts out Hendrix riffs so well that Drillbit is convinced he’s the real deal; or particularly the supporting performance by Danny McBride as Don, Drillbit’s skuzzy sidekick." Luke Y Thompson NEW TIMES

The Inside Story The unstoppable, perversely evil high school bully. For years, he has been a staple in film comedies; the iconic obstacle standing between childhood innocence and the start of adult life. Now, the larger than life bully is back and terrorizing a trio of outcasts who will go to hilarious new extremes to save their hides and restore their right to be just a little odd without being pummeled, teased, tormented or stuffed into lockers. The first year of high school is hard enough when you’re a slightly goofy teenager, but it’s positively unbearable when you’re the victim of an unconquerable tormenter who makes it his business to make your life unbearable. To make matters worse, no one will listen to your cries for help. Parents are too busy, teachers uninterested and the other kids only look away in horror, fearing they might be next. Which is why Ryan, Wade and Emmit must come up with a desperately clever solution. Why not do what mobsters, politicians and celebrities do whenever they’re stalked and targeted: bring in some professional muscle? And this leads them to a bad hombre named Drillbit Taylor: someone they think is a ruthless, deadly soldier of fortune. The uproarious story of "Drillbit Taylor" and his unlikely path from life on the streets to hoped-for adolescent savior emerged from a collision of inventive comic imaginations. It began with an idea that writer Edmond Dantes came up with more than 20 years ago, which never got beyond a 40-page treatment. That idea then fell into the hands of one of today’s top comedy producers, Judd Apatow, who created such super-hit comedies as "Superbad" , "Knocked Up" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin". Apatow turned to two formidable comedy writing talents: Kristofor Brown, best known for helping turn "Beavis and Butt-Head" into pop-culture icons; and film comedy star Seth Rogen, who has co-written such Apatow films as "Superbad" and the upcoming "Pineapple Express". Apatow was also joined on the project by producers Susan Arnold ("The Howling" & "Gremlins") and Donna Arkoff Roth ("Suddenly 30" & "America's Sweethearts"). "It was a great idea and a great title," Arnold recalls. "We thought it would be a lot of fun to kind of run with this story and reinvent it." "It took about one minute to know that Judd was exactly the right person to do this," says Roth. "His love and understanding of kids this age and his reverence and appreciation of this kind of world are the perfect mix." "The movies Judd is doing now are really capturing our time in a way people of all ages can relate to," Arnold notes. Brown and Rogen began with only the germ of the original storyline and went in their own direction from there. "Seth and I actually never saw the original treatment," Brown recalls. "The basic premise was that these high school freshmen get in trouble with some bullies and hire an actual soldier of fortune out of the back of a magazine to protect them. So we took that idea and kind of subverted it, because we thought it would be fun if, instead, Drillbit Taylor turned out to not be at all who he says he is." Rogen also notes that both he and Brown had an instant affinity for the story, which was close, perhaps too close, to their own reality. "I was bullied when I first got into high school and didn’t know how to deal with it and so was Kris," Rogen says ruefully. "Let’s just say we had a lot of personal experience with this stuff." "I was about five foot two when I started high school," Brown admitted. "Everyone else went through a growth spurt but I didn’t so I was about the size of Emmit when I started and I had both braces and glasses. I actually was pretty popular in grade school and then I got to high school and I very quickly realized that my survival technique was going to be not to draw any attention to myself. So, yeah, Seth and I both drew from our own lives." Brown, Rogen and Apatow also researched the increasing reality and unfortunate brutality of bullying in today’s schoolyards. A growing phenomenon, it is estimated that some 5.7 million American kids experience bullying every year. "We kept in mind that what Ryan, Wade and Emmit are going through is a reality for a lot of people," Brown notes. when it came to creating the actual character of Drillbit, they went outside regulations, crafting a true original, someone who is more than just a hilarious fraud, a misfit who stumbles through his own relatable human flaws towards really caring about other people. "The original writer came up with the name, but me and Kris made up the reality of who Drillbit really is out of thin air: we came up with his voice and then the rest of his story developed from there," Rogen explained. The final draft of the screenplay had Arnold and Roth in stitches. With the screenplay completed, the producers next set out in search of a director. They quickly came to the conclusion that Steven Brill, who co-wrote the Ben Stiller comedy "Heavyweights" with Apatow, and made his directorial debut with the movie before going on to direct a string of box-office hits with Adam Sandler; was their man. "Steve has demonstrated that he really knows how to get great performances out of young kids who aren’t yet polished performers and that was what we needed," says Arnold. "This movie is kind of a right of passage, about becoming a man while your life is being threatened," says Brill. "I think it’s a story that, perhaps sadly, everyone can really relate to, because everyone I know has to some degree been picked on or bullied in life, including myself." Brill encouraged improvisation on the set to bring the characters more fully to life and to sharpen the humor. "I don’t think Kris Brown got much sleep during the shoot,"Arnold recalls. " He was coming in every day during production with new pages." "For me, the most fun you can have on a film is to come in everyday with amazingly talented people who are completely unpredictable," says Brill. "At the end of the day, the story remained what Kris and Seth wrote, but we were constantly improvising beats and jokes and takes on the characters in wildly varied ways that brought them vividly to life." From the minute they finished writing "Drillbit Taylor"; Rogen, Brown and Apatow all began thinking of one actor for the title character: two time Lone Star Film & Television Award winner (1996 & '99) Owen Wilson, the accomplished screenwriter turned actor, whose work has ranged from Oscar ® winning films to blockbuster comedies. "We were excited to come up with a character for Owen doing the kind of comedy we’d always wanted to see him do, especially interacting with kids in a big, sweet movie," says Apatow. "We are all such giant fans of his." "Owen brought tons to this role, because he brings his own distinctive personality and his own Academy Award ® nomination as screenwriter (for "The Royal Tennenbaums", co-written with Wes Anderson). He was always punching up the dialogue, and throughout there was a great collaboration between Owen and myself, Kris, Seth and Judd. Every day was a blast," Brill remembers. "One thing I realized on "You, Me and Dupree" is that Owen is really hilarious with kids. He was great for this role because he can be dangerous seeming and at the same time has that childlike quality," says Rogen. Years ago, Apatow had cast Wilson for his first major Hollywood role as the hapless date who gets beaten up by Jim Carrey in "The Cable Guy". "Judd, bless his heart, could see something there, a little diamond in the rough," recalls Wilson. "And it’s kind of ironic that we’ve now made a movie in which I’m protecting these kids from the kinds of things that happened to me in "The Cable Guy", such as getting my head dunked in a toilet." As with virtually everyone who read the script, Wilson could relate to the whole bullying situation that has put Ryan, Wade and Emmit’s high school careers in serious jeopardy. "I went to military school and everybody gets picked on in military school," he notes. "You’re kind of getting screamed at and hazed and that’s just how it is. I also remember there was a kid in the neighborhood when I was growing up that we were all terrified of. Even more embarrassing, there was a girl who used to pick on us. And this girl was, like, huge and she liked to fight. You know, there’s a lot about being a kid that’s kind of scary." One of the unusually tough challenges for Wilson was playing opposite producer Apatow’s wife, Leslie Mann, as the teacher who falls for Drillbit Taylor, believing him to be the first decent, honest man she’s ever dated. "It seemed that Judd was always on set whenever Leslie and I had one of those passionate embracing scenes." Next came the exciting process of finding three fresh, young comic talents to bring out both the natural humor a nd the adolescent heartbreak of the bullied threesome, Ryan, Wade and Emmit. "We were looking for kids who were really original, yet also seemed very real," notes Roth. Ultimately, the filmmakers found their three stars right in their own backyard, in Los Angeles, where Troy Gentile, Nate Hartley and David Dorfman were each kicking off their movie careers. No one could believe how perfectly each of them fit the characters in Brown and Rogen’s screenplay. "When we put the three of them together during their screen tests, we just looked at them and all started laughing: they looked so great together," Arnold recalls. Wilson recalls, "I kinda felt intimidated because they were coming up with all this funny stuff. Initially I thought '‘oh these poor kids are going to be so nervous on the set', but instead, they were just completely comfortable. Sometimes I wished they were a little more nervous." Synopsis

On their first day as high school freshmen,chubby Ryan, freakishly skinny Wade and their shrimpy tagalong, Emmit become the instant target of the school’s senior psycho in residence, Filkins, the ultimate school bully. As what they were hoping to be the best years of their lives are suddenly turned into a daily living hell, the boys realize they have only one choice; to hire their own personal bodyguard. Enter Drillbit Taylor, not the best but definitely the cheapest of the mercenaries, hit men and bodyguards who answer their online ad. Drillbit is steely, dangerous and skilled in covert black-ops and exotic martial arts. Drillbit's also a complete fraud. He bluffs and cajoles the credulous trio through his cockamamie boot camp, managing to instil in them new skills and some much-needed confidence. But when push comes to shove, Drillbit seems to be no match for Filkins’ reign of terror.

The Verdict "While many politically correct readers will baulk at the idea of another film about schoolyard bullying, there are I'm sure just as many cinemagoers who will see through this sendup, even though they are having a damn good time watching what unfolds on the screen for the 'victims', Ryan, Wade and Emmit, while still retaining an empathy for what they are going through. Responsible, smart parents should relish the opportunity to use "Drillbit Taylor" as a tool to educate their children about the profound effect of being bullied, or being a bully, can have on people, later on in life. Good natured comedy. Well worth a look at! 3 1/2 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "DRILLBIT TAYLOR" stars .......
Alex Frost ["Elephant", "Queen of Cactus Cove" and "Stop Loss"]; Stephen Root ["Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story", "Just Friends" and "No Country for Old Men"]; Valerie Tian ["The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants", "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" and "Juno"]; Nate Hartley ["Unlicensed" and "The Great Buck Howard"]; Troy Gentile ["Bad News Bears", "Nacho Libre" and "Good Luck Chuck"] and Owen Wilson ["Meet The Fockers", "Wedding Crashers" and "The Darjeeling Limited"] as Drillbit Taylor.
"DRILLBIT TAYLOR" was .......
directed by Steven Brill ["Little Nicky", "Mr Deeds" and "Without A Paddle"]; set decoration by K.C. Fox ["Speed", "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde" and "Year of the Dog"]; art direction by Scott Meehan ["Cheaper by the Dozen", "School for Scoundrels" and TV'S "Las Vegas"]; costume design by Karen Patch ["Bottle Rocket", "Rushmore" and "Team America: World Police"]; production design by Jackson De Govia ["Bowfinger", "The Score" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin"]; cinematography by Fred Murphy ["Auto Focus", "The Mothman Prophecies" and "Secret Window"]; original music by Christophe Beck ["Ice Princess", "The Pink Panther", "We Are Marshall" and "Year of the Dog"]. Who's Who?

Nate Hartley Troy Gentile Ian Roberts Owen Wilson Casey Boersma Dylan Boersma Lisa Ann Walter Beth Littleford David Koechner Matt Walsh Janet Varney Lisa Lampanelli Bill O'Neill Shaun Weiss Jordan Valley Valerie Tian David Dorfman Alex Frost Josh Peck Leslie Mann

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Wade Ryan Jim Drillbit Taylor Chuck Nick Dolores Barbara Frightened Dad Not for Pot Driver Attractive Woman Driver Ronnie's Mom Dean Bus Driver Cute Girl on Stairs Brooke Emmit Filkins Ronnie Lisa

Run Time 102 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2008 - Paramount Pictures - All Rights Reserved ©2008 All Rights Reserved - Protected by Australian, International, Copyright & Trademark Laws.