Bully Movie Review 2001

Director Clark continues his cinematic theme (announced in "Kids") of amoral and hedonistic young adults with this adaptation of the true story of a 1993 murder by a group of teens in Florida. Bobby (Stahl) is a dominating scumbag who pushes his best friend Marty (Renfro) around and pressures him into unwanted sexual and narcotic experimentation. When Marty meets and begins dating Lisa (Miner), Bobby forces himself into their sexual encounters. After Bobby rapes Lisa's friend Ali (Phillips), Lisa decides that the only solution is to kill Bobby. Inexperienced in such things, the homicidal posse gets some advice from a hit man (Fitzpatrick) who's barely older than they are. Filling the screen with graphic scenes of drug use and joyless sex, Clark doesn't seem to have any message other than "Look how bad these kids are. Now look at them naked." No psychological depth is given to the characters, although the actors do their best with what they've got. Also available in an R-rated version at 107 minutes.

Distribution

CinemaNow, 4553 Glencoe Ave., Ste. 200, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292, URL: http://www.cinemanow.com, Remarks: Formerly known as Lions Gate Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 113 minutes.
Originally from United States.

Cast and Crew

Genres

True Crime, Teen Angst, Florida, Sex & Sexuality, Drug Use & Abuse

Screenplay

Zachary Long, Roger Pullis

Cast

Brad Renfro, Nick Stahl, Bijou Phillips, Rachel Miner, Michael Pitt, Kelli Garner, Daniel Franzese, Leo Fitzpatrick

Cinematography

Steve Gainer

Director

Larry Clark

Other

Larry Clark, Rob Freeman, Andrew Hafitz, Laura Harper, Carleen Ileana Rosado, Linda Burton

Producer

Chris Hanley, Don Murphy, Fernando Sulichin, Blacklist, Gravity Entertainment, Lions Gate Films