Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing but I loved it !
Review: I saw the movie Bully like a month and half ago. I rented it. I thought it wasn't going to be good. To my surprised it was really good. The whole way that the movie was made. Made the movie good. The more disturbing and violent scenes there were really helped because it shows the audience how bad the situation in the movie is.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Genious....
Review: Here is the main jist of the movie. We have Marty, a young teenage surfer type who lives in southern Florida, who is constantly being abused and taken advantage of by his supposed best friend, Bobby. Marty is a highschool dropout who seems to be going nowhere, and ironically Bobby is a good student with a good future ahead of him. Marty's girlfriend begins to notice Bobby's behavior toward him, and cooks up an absurd plot to kill him. One thing leads to another and eventually Bobby ends up dead. Let me start off by saying this movie is amazing... I am a teenager who lives in the suburbs. I guess you could say I have been in the trenches. What scares me the most is I started seeing people I knew in this movie, friends, ecquaintances, etc. What I like the most is Larry Clark didn't try to remake Kids, he knew that wasn't going to work. But the two are still similar enough to produce the same effect. Kids was rawer in a sense, where Bully is a little bit more formatted and better looking. But they are still related, they both have a documentary feel to them. This movie is probably the only true murder movie ever to exist. None of the kids who committed the murder could do it alone, but they had no difficulty doing it as a group. This is saying something about the way that our society works, not only for teengers but for everyone. I also really liked the irony of Bobby's character. He was a good student, who seemed to have a strong future, and had solid family life, but he was the most perverted and wild out of the bunch. I know way too many people like this. It angers me to see ... the media call this movie untrue in anyway. I saw one person try to say things weren't this bad in the suburbs. I also saw one person try to say their was nothing shocking about these kids' behavior. Both of those statements are nothing but fallacies. People are in disbelief because they don't want things to be like this. These are the people who moved their families to the suburbs just so their kids would have better futures. Well I can tell you first hand, you're kids are probably better off in the ghetto or locked in a cage. People also don't want to believethat a generation of kids have it worse than they did. I'm not proud of the fact that either of those are true, but I think people need to quit fooling themselves and start taking movies like Bully and Kids seriously. Because we have a problem here, the suburbs are worse than the ghettos. If we sit there and feed ourselves these lines like. "Ohh it's not that bad." Nothing will ever be done about it. Other people may have not liked this movie because of the excessive amounts of nudity. I will admit the camera seemed a little to willing to watch, but it's like Roger Ebert said. If a person decades younger than Larry would have made this movie, they would have been dubbed an artistic genious just upon composition. I even saw numerous people saying that the acting in this was poor, they then compared it to the acting in Kids. That's absurd. The thing that made Kids stick out was it's rawness, it's feeling of reality. The kids in Kids weren't actors, they were ordinary kids. None of them could act. I would like to end this review with one final thought. Larry Clark has a masterpiece here on his hands, he exploits a problem in America today and even offers a solution. It's ignorance to ignore it or pass it off as false. He is showing us in Kids and Bully that no matter where you live your kids are going to be faced with this. Why is this? It's not because the government didn't tell us not to do drugs enough. It's because there is simply nothing else to do. And there are far too many parents who simply don't care. This is illustrated in some of the most eariest seens in the movie, these are when Bijou Phillips proudly proclaims that she has a kid, but it's no big deal because her parents take care of it. It is also seen when the kids are sitting down with their families for dinner everynight. The bottom line is Larry Clark is showing us the problem and the solution, we can't pass him off as a dirty old man or some sort of rebel without a cause. Bully is a masterpiece on two different levels.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Dark and Disturbing Movie
Review: Based on a true story, six South Florida teens plot and carry out the cold blooded murder of one of their peers. This movie is shockingly realistic. As with his previous film "Kids", the director has again captured the underworld of teenage partying, sex and drugs. Do parents really know what their kids do when they're with their friends? After viewing this movie, you'll definately be shocked...
Rating: 
Summary: WAS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE EDGY?
Review: from what i recall while fading in and out of sleep,1 kid for some reason or another cant escape the clutches of this older kid.so he and some other kids plot to kill him.um,is it just me or was there no other alternative?this is supposed to be based on real life events and that may be as sad as this movie version.it seems that after the killing,the kids cant wait to confess their''SECRET''to whoever is willing to listen.this isnt edgy in the least...not 1 charactor is believable/sympathy worthy.im not ragging on this because kids was such an incredible movie...
Rating:
Summary: It's 4am...and I still can't stop thinking about it.
Review: Before watching Bully knowing Larry Clark had directed it gave me a taste for what it might be like. Based on a true story I was taken in by the whole thing instantly. The story was a great basis for an even greater movie. Larry Clarks choice of actors was perfect. Bijou Phillips as the care free, experimental Ali was just right. Nich Stahl as the Bully, played it with such truthfulness, that in certain scenes was disturbing to see. Brad Renfro as Marty - the initial victim of Bobby's violence. Plays it with a perfect sense of fear but of also the need to rebel against him and eventually stop running. In typical Larry style the movie uses very unusual camera angles to make things as real to life as possible. Larry Clark also likes to shock and have an impact on his viewers - small elements like the umbearable camera spinning round a group of teens for well over 1 minute made me turn away dizzy, also using an unwanted shot of Bijou's crotch, it served no purpose.
The movie is very real, Larry hasn't left any stone unturned. High amounts of ...frolics between the teens and even the murder itself are as real and are played with as much truth as possible.
I watched the first 10 minutes and I had to turn it off - because I was brought face to face with a grim reality - that was done in such a believable way that I had to register what I had seen. It was quite shocking to see some of the actors as their characters. For example Michael Pitt went from innocent and loving Henry in Dawsons Creek to a guy who has lots ...[of relations] and would commit ...[crimes] As uncomfortable as the scenes were, the acting was at such a high level you'd never know they were phased by it. Although Bully is initailly a grim story of ...[crimes], I think Bully is on some level a fun, entertaining teenage flick, its the violent elements in the story that change the whole feel to it.
Bully has fresh new talent and a kicking soundtrack. Larry Clark has always been interested in youth..., in this movie he has combined that and applied it to a gripping story.
Bully has been a real eye opener. Its been a week or so since I watched it and I still can't stop thinking about it. Walking away from a movie and forgetting about it is a wasted 2 hours - walking away and thinking about it weeks after and wanting to know more - well thats a job well done.
Rating:
Summary: read the book, did some research, ran across the movie
Review: I read the book which got me hooked. I spent hours on the net doing research on this case. Guess you could call me a self-proclaimed expert. One day I came across the DVD. Didn't even know anything about it. The video is entertaining and pretty accurate. I think they went a little overboard on the sex issues and a little underboard on Bobby's character. The movie is worth it's two hours... keep in mind that this REALLY happened. True Story... kinda scary to think that this many people would follow through with it.
Rating:
Summary: Sordid, but convincing and compelling.
Review: The film follows a group of teenagers as they kill an obnoxious bully: starting from the planning stages, through the murder, and then into the falling out and panic as the police close in. Drifting into murder in an almost casual and blundering manner, they turn to a self appointed gangster to help them. Despite the front he puts on, he is as clueless as the rest of them. Clues are left lying everywhere. It all goes wrong, naturally. The acting from the unknown cast is excellent. Larry Clark's portrayal of teenage life in all its aimlessness and sordidness is effective. The slow unfolding of the story allows you to understand the characters and get to know their backgrounds, so that when they decide to murder their victim, you know why they are doing it, even though the casual (but convincing) way they have drifted into their decision remains shocking. A good film: sordid, but convincing and compelling.
Rating: 
Summary: So THIS is how you deal with bullies...
Review: 'Bully' is the latest pseudo-sociological, sadopsychosexual, sexploitation flick from notorious 'Kids' director, Larry Clark. If Clark's attempts to restage that film's controversy feel a little tired, 'Bully' is still not without merit. The title character is a teenage boy of good, middle-class family who is expected to go to college and eventually set up business with his father. when we first meet him, however, he is bullying his so-called best friend Marty at work in front of two nymphettes. He later rapes both of them, physically abuses the other, and continues bullying the friend, while generally humiliating or winding up anyone who crosses his path. Except his dad, whose stern but well-meaning entreaties to channel his intelligence, and ignore his loser friend (socially unacceptable because Italian?), together with his violently repressed homosexuality, seem to contribute to his brutishness. His friends have no access to these mitigating circumstances, however, and decide to take extreme remedies. Critics have made much of the 58-year-old director's voyeuristic filming of very young flesh. Although both male and female characters are about equally exposed, it is the girls who are literally eyed up and down by the lascivious camera, which lingers on especially sensitive areas. Besides being morally dubious, the method affects our reception of the film. 'Bully' tries so hard to key into the mindset of the young characters, their language, their physical rituals around each other, their raging hormones determining their thoughtless actions, their humour and likable amorality, their music and interests. He is particularly good at eking the desperate hopelessness of adolescence, the way a teenager under a crumpled bed can seem like a soul lost behind a mountainous desert. But the gaze is that of a dirty old man, and therefore unwittingly aligns itself with the adult characters he apparently blames, perversely introducing a consorious attitude. This doesn't make the characters less understandable or sympathetic, but it does make you think they're being cheated on. It IS important to show the body in the film, as it is its principle metaphor, a site of violence (with marks as evidence), of exploitation, abuse, vulnerability, but also individuality and experiment (in the film's fuunniest sequence, a wax-dripping sex scene manages to incorporate, rather than be interrupted by, a mobile phone call. It's only when the film reaches the agonising pitch of its climax that one realises how controlled the seemingly aimless film-making had been, how attuned to a rhythm, how revelatory of characters' lives, leading us to empathise with even the dopiest slacker. Ironically, it is also at this point that the film becomes most conventional, restrained by 'true story' morality clashing with its pretensions to Camus.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing. Easily the best film of 2001
Review: Larry Clark's "Bully" is a masterpiece of cinematic realism. The way he and his superb cast delve into the mindsets of these troubled teenagers is stunning.
All of the actors are great in the film; I was impressed how Nick Stahl could play a real sicko here and the complete opposite in "In the Bedroom"; but the real revelation in "Bully" is Brad Renfro, who is so damaged that you can feel nothing but empathy for his character as he gets himself more and more involved in the poorly planned murder plot. I would compare his performance to Sean Penn's in "Hurlyburly". Both characters are like exposed wounds, displaying their hurt for all the world to see.
The integration of hip-hop music into the film, which can sometimes be an annoying way for a director to try and be hip, was also extremely well-done here, as the songs used perfectly capture the mood of certain scenes. My favorite has to be the use of Fatboy Slim's "Song for Salvation" over the final portion of the film.
After "Kids", "Another Day in Paradise" and now "Bully", Clark has emerged as an important voice in contemporary cinema. I fear he'll never fully be recognized for this, though, because of the extreme nature of his subject matter. Even so, his talent for camerawork, editing and working with actors is all evident in this film.
"Bully" is authenticity at all costs. Clark and his ensemble are artists in the truest sense of the word. They are fearless in their determination to tell this story in as real a way as they can. They work without safety nets and the film is all the better for it.
Other notable 2001 films include David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive", The Coen Brothers' "The Man Who Wasn't There" and John Dahl's "Joy Ride".
Rating:
Summary: Clark delivers intensity and powerhouse directing.
Review: I love director Larry Clark. He has a real talent for getting right under his audience's skin with the very first frame of his films. In "Kids," the sight of young actor Leo Fitzpatrick and his character's latest attraction was enough to shock one into following through with the film. And now, in his best film since that previous effort, Clark delivers intensity and powerhouse directing in "Bully." The film chronicles events that took place in Southern Florida in July of 1993, centering around two best friends, Marty and Bobby (Brad Renfro, Nick Stahl). Their friendship reminds me of the bond between mid-20's murderers Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, who were friends of a sort out of their twisted pathology for murder and deception. It's not so much the act, but the nuances of their bond that is seen within that of Marty and Bobby: Bobby, an aggressive fellow, keeps the passive, emotionally needy Marty under his wing. There are even hints that Bobby might have homosexual tendencies, which would further explain his need to exact a brutish demeanor in the presence of his friends. It is Marty, however, who has cause for the events to come. The two boys cross paths with Ali and Lisa (Bijou Phillips, Rachel Miner), two young girls who instantly take a liking to Marty and Bobby. Of the two, Lisa is the quiet, reserved one, while Ali makes it a point to let Bobby know she's available for play. Marty and Lisa get into a relationship, one that involves sex, pot-smoking, hanging out, until one day, Lisa begins to question his friendship with Bobby. The film is unique in that it's one of the few based on reality whose characters possess evils so undeniably chilling, you almost think (or wish) it was fictional. Fed up with Bobby's bantering and trouble-making, Lisa proposes to Marty the idea of killing him, ridding the world of his problematic behavior. At first hesitant, Marty warms to the idea of no longer being the subject of forced anal rapes or bruises and bloody lips and noses, and soon, the two have gathered a group of suburban teenagers to carry out their master plan. The middle third of the film, prior to the murder, finds the group in an elated stupor that is a result of various controlled substances, and the knowledge that they have the power to take someone's life into their own hands. Of the seven conspirators, Lisa is the most effective at creating a sense of chilling dread: under the performance of Rachel Miner, we come to an understanding that Lisa is a girl who is not what she first appeared to be. Renfro also does well in turning his character from a banter object into someone exacting cold revenge. After a well-crafted and gratifyingly suspenseful murder sequence that finds the group confused, the film takes a turn into darker waters, examining the effects of quilt, fear of discovery, and the placement of blame. At first resolute and steadfast, Lisa has now become hysterical and obsessive about hiding the truth (at one point, she makes the mistake of revealing the murder to a friend by pleading for a ride to the murder scene); her cousin, Derek (Daniel Franzese), frantically searches for the closest possible ally, confiding in a not-so-trustworthy youth; Marty, who is somewhat relieved that he is rid of Bobby, still feels pangs of guilt and fear, as do the rest of the group. Clark is careful to keep our attentions focused on certain things at certain times. In the beginning, we bear witness to the laying of plans. Once the plans are carried out, we then must watch as these characters unravel internally, making mistakes and talking to the wrong people. Since the film is based on reality, those familiar with history will know how it ends up, but Clark's ability to ratchet up the suspense and underlying sense of dread is top-notch, as is his cast, who remain remarkable through to the end. The real kicker of a film like "Bully" is its unwillingness to takes sides by straying from the usual preachy methods that tend to dominate such films. In the end, it leaves us with our own thoughts concerning Bobby's murder, and we must make our own decision about whether or not he deserved such a fate as he received. Were Marty and Lisa justified in their actions? The people of Broward County didn't think so, and neither does this critic. But that's up to you to decide.
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