Drillbit TaylorMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 41 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 Iffy for 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 63
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Steven Rea

    There are winning scenes between Wilson and the three teens as they train in various martial arts (like Mexican Judo - "as in Ju-don't know who you're messing with!") and get tips from clips of "Fight Club" and "The Untouchables." Read full review

  • 50
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    Owen Wilson phones it in with Drillbit Taylor, a by-the-numbers teen comedy. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    A relatively lame exercise that never achieves comic traction. Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    As clunky and humorless as its title. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Crust

    Wilson is as sincere as ever at being insincere, though the sweet minor notes of his trademark melancholia seem here to be in search of a more boisterous presence -- say a Vince Vaughn -- to riff with. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    A junior-league "Superbad" with an aftertaste of "The Pacifier," Drillbit Taylor is a just passable pubescent comedy with a modest laugh count by Apatow factory standards. Read full review

  • 40
    The New York Times |

    So ploddingly directed (by Steven Brill) and lazily written that it adds up to little more than a diffuse collection of second-hand gags and jokes, few of them funny. Read full review

  • 38
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    Drillbit Taylor sounds like a rediscovered blaxploitation movie or a name near the top of the NFL draft. Read full review

  • 25
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    Another dreadful, not-funny Owen Wilson movie, in which Wilson is the best thing. Read full review

  • 25
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    A failing-grade comedy about the wishful triumph of high school dorks over high school bullies. Read full review

View more reviews for Drillbit Taylor on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 13+ More fights than laughs in Owen Wilson comedy.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this teen comedy was produced by Judd Apatow -- who directed the "hard R" comedies The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up -- and co-written by Knocked Up star Seth Rogen (who also co-scripted Superbad). With a PG-13 rating and a focus on high school bullies, the adult humor and language are dialed down a few notches here (there are a couple of bare-butt shots of Drillbit showering, as well as words like "s--t" and "bitch") ... and replaced with relentless, violent bullying behavior. The freshmen are constantly threatened, beaten up, chased, and humiliated. For most of the movie, parents and the principal laugh the behavior off. Also expect plenty of product placement and fat jokes aimed at a young teen.
  • 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?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The main bad guy is a cruel, unrelenting bully; the principal and parents laugh off his behavior like it's all in good fun. Drillbit is a chronic liar who comes to care for his naïve young charges and decides not to rob them in the end -- but still takes their weekly "protection" money. The protagonists skip school to learn fighting techniques and raid their parents' homes for whatever Drillbit asks for, including expensive suits and electronics. Also lots and lots of fat jokes aimed at a young teen -- and a few skinny-boy jokes, too.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Lots of teen fist-fighting. The over-the-top bullying behavior is meant for some laughs, but the main bully, Filkins, is practically a sociopath. He nearly runs the freshmen down in his car, punches them out repeatedly (breaking a nose), and hits them with other objects (like the base of a lamp). He eventually throws a sword that severs a finger. Includes scenes in which the freshmen boys try to learn how to fight and end up hurting each other repeatedly (played for laughs, including the easy groin gag).
  • sex false3 Sex: Two bare-butt shots of Drillbit showering on the beach (people passing in cars can see him from the front). Drillbit and the English teacher have daily quickies in the classroom -- though nothing but kissing is shown. As part of a rap, Ryan says "suck on my family's jewels, bitch" and grabs his crotch. Life Skills class talks about symptoms of STDs and shows a diagram of a penis. In bullying montages, pants are pulled down in hallways, and boys are pushed to face each other at the urinals, then picked up -- viewers see pee hit the ceiling.
  • language false3 Language: Words include "bitch," "ass," and "s--t," as well as negative stereotype words like "faggot" and "queers."
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Cap'n Crunch cereal has the biggest plug -- Drillbit loves it. Apple laptops are everywhere. The boys down Red Bulls before their big fight. Clips of Fight Club and The Untouchables. Mentions or shots of iPods, Gameboy, Coke, Power Bar, Clif Bar, Costco, Hot Topic, YouTube.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Kids party before the big fight, and everyone has a big plastic cup in their hand. Adults drink. Plenty of references to pot smoking.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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