Good start, but then it gets ruined

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Blistering performances.

Wade (Nate Hartley) and Ryan (Troy Gentile) are two nerdy friends getting bullied in high school by Filkins (Alex Frost) and Ronnie (Josh Peck). The only bigger nerd in school is Emit (David Dorfman) and the two friends can't get rid of him. Wade likes Brooke (Valerie Tian), but it's hopeless. He gets the idea to hire a bodyguard. Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson) is a happy amiable homeless guy. He needs the money and gets the idea to lie to the kids.The bullying is way over the top. The kids aren't particularly cute or appealing. The adults are incredibly clueless. In reality, most teachers know who the trouble makers are. The only thing saving this is the chemistry between the three kids. Drillbit Taylor's lying is horribly unfunny. He really sinks this movie. I can't believe that the kids buy into everything he says. If the movie concentrates on the boys and less on Drillbit, the movie may actually work.

An entertaining movie on the whole, but I would neither call it a comedy, nor a drama.It's *supposed* to be a comedy, but you'll be hard-pressed to find any funny moment in it. Entertaining is not the same as funny. It would probably pass for a 'drama', but it isn't serious/deep/believable enough to be classed as that.Too much violence for a movie with such a theme, and that scene at the end, when Drillbit's finger gets cut off... it was really out of place and uncalled for.Owen Wilson looks bored and uninspired throughout the whole movie. His performance is quite poor, and his character - unlikeable.The kids were very good, though. They were convincing in their respective roles, except the Asian girl. I didn't understand the skinny guy's crush on her. She was completely wooden, and why was she at the bully's party? I thought Filkins (the bully) was too old for the part. He looked at least 10 years older than his victims! No bully of his age would pick on kids that much younger, so it all looked like a joke really. He is actually quite likable and doesn't quite pass for a bully to begin with.I won't even mention the principal, Drillbit's cronies, or the boys' families... those characters were so incredibly unconvincing... utter failure.Anyway, it's a half-decent movie that you can watch more than once and still find entertaining. If you're into analyzing movies, then you won't like this one; but if it's just some light-hearted entertainment you're after, then this movie is definitely worth seeing.

I have to admit that I didn't expect ANYTHING good from this one. The title is atrocious, the posters are lame, and the plot outline is mediocre. What could you expect?!The truth is that "Drillbit Taylor" is a dark comedy oriented for kids and teens.I mean "dark" because it deals with a hobo that lives a life of crime. Suddenly he's hired as the bodyguard of three wimpy kids.Also, the movie tells the traumatic and truth about being bullied and how hard school is when you're not popular.There are really funny bits and the typical clichés. The final "fight" could be considered the highlight of the movie.The kids got on my nerves. I don't like Owen Wilson but he's great when he plays Owen Wilson.The dialogs are sometimes funny and sometimes just stupid. Guess that's the tone the director wanted.

If you watched this movie and at the end DIDN'T know why kids went on shooting rampages back around the turn of the century and commit suicide now, then you are completely ignorant to bullying in schools and the effect it has on victims.I first saw this a couple years ago as a lead in for a special showing of the Get Smart reboot, and I was ready to walk out less than a half hour of this thing starting and not come back for Get Smart.It showcases the things that bullying victims often go through: a relentless tormentor, parents who are unwilling to listen to their problems or refuse to believe them, and a school that refuses to defend the victims, even at times SIDING WITH the bully. It also shows the desperation that victims go to in hiring someone to protect them because NO ONE else will.The three kids tried to do the right thing until the point where Owen Wilson comes in. They tried to deal with the problem themselves, to talk to their parents, and to the school administrators. What they did and went through is a reflection of what bullying victims go through, in that they see no out from their problems and try to resolve it in the worst way. This movie tries to make light of people who are victimized and whatever moral the writers were shooting for was LOST.The bully at the end got what was coming to him to a point: He was just arrested and shipped off for his parents to deal with; but there was no real punishment shown, which is the giant flaw of Apatow and Hughes' work. If a person (the antagonist) has gotten to the point where they're torturing students and manipulating adults into thinking that his actions are pure, then he cannot be simply "fixed" by his parents punishing him. He is a psychopath.It is sad that this is John Hughes' last film, as it is a sour note to go out on. 1/10, and it's only because I can't give it a 0/10.