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Bully

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Bully (2001)

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Reviews Counted:84

Fresh:43

Rotten:41

Average Rating:5.6/10

Consensus: With its lingering shots of naked teenage bodies, Bully feels more sordidly exploitative than realistic.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Jul 13, 2001 Limited

Synopsis: Bobby Kent (Nick Stahl) is not a nice guy. He beats up his "best friend" Marty every chance he gets, he abuses Marty's girlfriend Lisa, and he rapes Lisa's friend Ali. From director Larry Clark... Bobby Kent (Nick Stahl) is not a nice guy. He beats up his "best friend" Marty every chance he gets, he abuses Marty's girlfriend Lisa, and he rapes Lisa's friend Ali. From director Larry Clark (KIDS) and screenwriter David McKenna (AMERICAN HISTORY X) comes this gruelling thriller based on the true story of Bobby Kent, a bossy Florida teenager who was beaten to death by a group of his peers. There isn't a lot to do in the suburban Florida town that Bobby and his "friends" inhabit. They play violent shoot-em-up video games, they work at the Pizza Hut, they go surfing at the beach, and they cruise in their hot rods. But mostly, Bobby and his friends have lots of sex. The film is drenched in graphic shots of barely legal naked teenagers. (This has been Clark's favorite subject matter since his days as a photographer, as illustrated in his 1997 book TEENAGE LUST.) Sexual identity is an undercurrent in Bobby's story: he watches gay porn while he rapes Ali, and he forces Marty to dance with him at a gay club. Some of the other teenagers think that Bobby and Marty are a couple. But this is a minor issue. They decide to kill Bobby because he's a bully who has hurt and angered them; and because they're bored and desensitized to violence. In BULLY, Clark provides another hard look at the hard lives of American teenagers, in all their confusion. It isn't pretty. [More]

Starring: Nick Stahl, Bijou Phillips, Brad Renfro, Leo Fitzpatrick

Starring: Nick Stahl, Bijou Phillips, Brad Renfro, Leo Fitzpatrick, Rachel Miner, Kelli Garner, Michael Pitt

Director: Larry Clark

Director: Larry Clark
Screenwriter: David McKenna
Producer: Jordan Gertner, Chris Hanley, David McKenna
Studio: Lions Gate Films

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Release:

Jan 22, 2002

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Bully

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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment 1 Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine

If you stick with Bully through its seemingly endless repetition of themes and its hurl-inducing hand-held camerawork, it does build a crude, indefinable power.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
07/31/01
Andrew O'Hehir
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Go with an open mind.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
07/27/01
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

There's an honesty at the core of its presentation.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
07/13/01
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

there is a certain grizzled truth here, and once you get past the visual splendor of the bare thespians, you might just get a bit horrified—and isn't that what art's about?

Full Review Source: PopcornQ | comment Comment
09/18/01
Brandon Judell
Brandon Judell
PopcornQ

A brutal, though darkly humorous film.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/30/02
Brian Walker
Brian Walker
ViewLondon

Clark pulls no punches and never panders to the Moral Majority; he simply makes his point, over and over again: This is what your children think is acceptable behavior.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/02/01
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

A gripping experience.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
07/12/01
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Citysearch

It's coldly brilliant.

Full Review Source: IFilm | comment Comment
07/12/01
Dave White
Dave White
IFilm

Thanks, Larry Clark, for this festering little slice of suburban life: a perfect respite from 2001's summer of predictable Hollywood programming.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
David Williams
David Williams
Film Threat

I found Bully absolutely riveting.

Full Review Source: NUVO Newsweekly | comment Comment
10/01/01
Edward Johnson-Ott
Edward Johnson-Ott
NUVO Newsweekly

[Clark's] portrayal of teens lulled into utter amorality by false consciousness is genuinely compelling.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
07/05/01
Glenn Kenny
Glenn Kenny
Premiere Magazine

Raised on sex and drugs, video games and violence, these adolescents don’t understand what they’ve done.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/30/01
Greg Muskewitz
Greg Muskewitz
eFilmCritic.com

A harrowing film based on the true story of the murder of a teenager in South Florida in 1993.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
07/02/01
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Joins the list of great American films about killing

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
03/10/02
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

Exposes us to the true horror of what's going on in these kids' lives.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
08/09/01
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Brilliantly unsettling.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
07/13/01
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Attention must be paid, because this story of middle-class suburban teens who murder one of their own is all true.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
08/02/01
Jane Sumner
Jane Sumner
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Bully is a well-made film about an ugly incident. It deserves to be seen.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
10/21/02
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

The result is that these astonishing, pathetic kids are so true that we believe them.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
07/16/01
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
 
 
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Latest News for Bully

January 17, 2008: Brad Renfro: 1982-2008
Brad Renfro, star of The Client and Apt Pupil, passed away Tuesday of unknown causes. He was 25. More...

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