Drillbit Taylor

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The bullies target Ryan and Wade

Drillbit Taylor – Best friends, Wade and Ryan, start high school in the worst possible way – by wearing the same shirt. When they attempt to defend another boy, Emmit, from bullies, the thugs turn their attentions towards them and they soon become the victims of a vicious campaign of abuse. Becoming friends with Emmit, the three decide to hire a bodyguard to protect them from the bullies when telling the school and their parents fail to stop them. After several unsettling interviews with intense candidates, they choose Drillbit Taylor who claims to be ex-military and a martial arts expert. What they don’t realise is that Drillbit is really a homeless conman with no skills who wants to use the boys to make some quick and easy cash.

Drillbit Taylor (2008) – Director: Steven Brill

Is Drillbit Taylor appropriate for kids

Rating: 12

Running Length: 110 mins

Starring: Owen Wilson, Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile

Genre: Comedy

 

REVIEW: ‘DRILLBIT TAYLOR’

Being a teen comedy movie could have made ‘Drillbit Taylor’ an excuse for crude and crass humour, especially with the normally ‘bro-humour’ delivering Seth Rogen taking a behind-the-scenes role in the movie (Screenplay and Story). Thankfully, what could have been a comedy aimed purely at those looking for juvenile jokes manages to be quite heart warming and fun. Rather than an Owen Wilson comedy, ‘Drillbit Taylor’ is probably best described as a comedy with Owen Wilson. While he is a main character, the plight of the boys takes up the main part of the story and these three likeable characters become the focus of the audience’s well-wishes. The ‘kids being bullied by a meat head’ plot line is hardly original and indeed the near psychotic tendencies of the antagonistic beggars belief at times. That said, as is usually the case, you do get caught up in the sheer injustice of the situation that the general likable lead characters find themselves in, and look forward to the inevitable time when the snarling mad-eyed bully gets his comeuppance.

The three actors playing Wade, Ryan and Emmit (Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile and David Dorfman respectively) take on their roles brilliantly and create characters who can instantly be warmed to. Having them go through such terrible abuse from the bullies, while being over the top, is something that most people can relate to. Wilson plays a love/hate role as he is both likeable as a man with nothing who has a seemingly unending sunny disposition and yet he is detestable when he exploits and steals from the boys. ‘Drillbit Taylor’ is by no means a shining example of a comedy movie but it is entertaining, enjoyable and will keep you laughing from start to finish.

CONTENT: IS ‘DRILLBIT TAYLOR’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

When Drillbit is first introduced, he showers naked on a beach. The camera shows him from the back and from a distance, however a woman runs passed him from the front and falls over in shock. Shortly after he approaches several cars in slow-moving traffic, asking the drivers for money. One man tells him that he doesn’t want him to use the money for marijuana and writes ‘Not for Pot’ on the monetary note that he gives him. A woman also gives him money and jokingly says that she doesn’t want him to spend it on food, it should be for ‘porn only’.

When the boys first encounter the bullies, they are dragging Emmit towards the lockers; they pick him up and shove him roughly into a small locker. He is clearly terrified, screams and begs them to stop. After their initial confrontation, there is then a montage of the bullies being very violent and abusive towards their three victims. This includes one of the boys being taped to a chair and pushed hard into a wall. A little later in the movie, the bullies chase the boys in a car and seem to have the full intention of running them over and potentially killing them.

It is likely that the frequent moderate cursing will be the deciding factor of whether ‘Drillbit Taylor’ is appropriate for children. There are also several homophobic slurs and one discriminatory term for mental illness. There are a high number of curse words said during a rap battle between Ryan and one of the bullies and at one point Ryan grabs his crotch and says ‘you can suck on my two family jewels, bitch’. During a sex ed class, the teacher talks about gonorrhoea and its other names – ‘the clap’ and ‘the drip’. He is showing the class a slideshow of the symptoms and although the camera never shows any of the slides, the students react with horror and disgust.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?
VERDICT: IS ‘DRILLBIT TAYLOR’ FOR KIDS?

‘Drillbit Taylor’ is a fun comedy movie which has been targeted towards teenagers but can also be enjoyed by adults. While there is puerile humour, the main characters being three young teenagers makes it more believable and acceptable. We feel that due to the amount of bad language in this movie, we would not recommend this film as appropriate for kids under the age of 12.

  • Violence: 3/5 (The bullies are very violent, almost psychotic towards their victims and do not show any remorse)
  • Emotional Distress: 0/5
  • Fear Factor: 2/5 (The boys constantly fear for their lives due to the viciousness of the attacks)
  • Sexual Content: 2/5 (the boys run through a garden where several young, attractive women are sunbathing in bikinis. Two of them stop and take pictures of the women with their phones and even pose with them a couple of times. While at one of their homes, the boys are watching a music video of a woman who is wearing hot pants and a short top which reveals her cleavage. She then uses a pneumatic drill which has the deliberate effect of making her chest jiggle up and down. Drillbit and a female teacher at the boys’ school start a casual sexual relationship where they regularly meet in an empty classroom, nothing explicit is shown but they are seen to leave the room looking dishevelled)
  • Bad Language: 5/5 (constant mild and moderate cursing and blasphemy throughout. One homophobic word is used several times and a derogatory word for mental illness is used once)
  • Dialogue: 2/5
  • Other notes: Deals with themes of school bullies, protecting yourself and your friends, standing up for yourself and the effect that lies can have on the people who trust you.

Words by Laura Record

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