Father and child sit together smiling while looking at a smart phone.

Want more recommendations for your family?

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for entertainment inspiration

Parents' Guide to

Drillbit Taylor

By Carrie R. Wheadon, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

More fights than laughs in Owen Wilson comedy.

Movie PG-13 2008 102 minutes
Drillbit Taylor Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

See all
age 13+

Based on 5 parent reviews

Kischka Bluspiro
Kischka Bluspiro Parent of 11 and 13-year-old
May 30, 2020
age 14+

Seriously one of the worst movies I've ever seen

I was expecting some dumb humor, but this movie's message was horrible (basically that some kids simply deserve to be bullied by virtue of size, looks, personality, etc.). My kids (ages 11 and 13 thought the initial scenes that established the bully as the enemy were hilarious. Spoiler alert: the bully gets his comeuppance at the end, but only after resorting to real violence. And as others have mentioned, the bully acts like a model kid whenever adults around, so of course the victims of his bullying are not believed. The humor fell flat most of the time, and Owen Wilson was so not the right person for this role. Not funny, not entertaining, and full of all the wrong messages, this movie deserves to sink quickly into obscurity.

This title has:

Too much violence
HelpfulMom
HelpfulMom Adult
January 10, 2020
age 15+

Skimpy scenes that this review doesn't mention...

There is a music video the boys are watching and we see a close up of a womans side butt cheeks coming out of her shorts-it's like a second of two and she is oiled up or wet.. and then we see her close up in a bikini top and then another shot of her close up in a midriff top bouncing up and down in the music video. There are 2 girls in bikinis sunbathing we see them laying down with bellys down and the young boys run into them and then go back to them to take pics of them and then they are shown again taking pics with the girls and the girls are still with their bellys downs.. one of the girls is holding her top on while taking pics.
See all 5 parent reviews

What's the Story?

On the first day of freshman year, Ryan (Troy Gentile) and Wade (Nate Hartley) make a big mistake: They both wear the same T-shirt, which instantly attracts the attentions of senior bullies -- including super creepy Filkins (Alex Frost). Many threats, mean-spirited pranks, and humiliations later, they decide to hire a bodyguard. The only one they can afford, Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson), claims to have an army background, but he's really a homeless army deserter who wants a few hundred bucks to relocate to Canada. That is, until he infiltrates the school as a substitute and hooks up with the English teacher. Oh, and he starts to like the boys too, and decides to actually help them. But does he like them enough to stop his friends' plan to rob Wade's house? Or enough to help his charges when they challenge Filkins to a fight on his turf?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (5 ):
Kids say (19 ):

Like a first-timer's fist fight, DRILLBIT TAYLOR is awkwardly and mean-spiritedly funny for a second -- until it's painful to watch. Wilson's comedic timing is always great, and the kids who play Ryan and Wade are really freshman-boy nerdy in a comical way. A couple of scenes are even pretty laugh-out-loud funny, like when Drillbit realizes that all he needs to pull off the substitute teacher role is to have a coffee cup in his hand. But after that it gets painful.

Why present the boys' nemesis as one-dimensional evil in Eminem's clothing? All great bullies have a little depth -- just look at The Karate Kid. Also, the humor relies on too many scenes of the kids learning how to fight, which slows the movie down and makes it apparent that there's not much here in the way of plot. Then the fighting gets more and more violent to speed things up again -- making the movie less and less funny with every punch. Per formulaic-movie rules, Drillbit saves the boys in the end and works in some great one-liners, but it's not enough to make this a winning comedy.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how the movie portrays bullies. Do you know bullies like Filkins, or is he just a caricature of a freshman's worst nightmare? What would you do in the boys' situation? Even though the principal's total obliviousness was for laughs, do you think there's some truth to the idea that adults don't take the problem seriously? What other forms does bullying take these days? Is it always physical, or are there other ways bullies can hurt people?

Movie Details

  • In theaters: March 19, 2008
  • On DVD or streaming: June 30, 2008
  • Cast: Nate Hartley , Owen Wilson , Troy Gentile
  • Director: Steven Brill
  • Studio: Paramount Pictures
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Run time: 102 minutes
  • MPAA rating: PG-13
  • MPAA explanation: crude sexual references throughout, strong bullying, language, drug references and partial nudity.
  • Last updated: May 26, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate