Rating: 
Summary: oddly made
Review: I really wanted to like this movie...So I watched the film. At first I was interested and then let down. The dialogue seemed to be very forced and unauthentic, there was pointless sex (yes, we know that teens have sex and lots of it, so we don't need countless crotch-shots) and parts of the script were just odd. It has many unrealistic portrayals of teens and I found myself laughing at times and others, just embarrassed for Larry Clark, who really tries to be hip. There is an explicit rape scene, which I must admit, is impressive in its intensity, but I was left confused afterward. Nick Stahl rapes Bijou Phillips and then she runs out of the bedroom and tells Rachel Miner she's been raped and runs outside bumping into Stahl's father. He walks inside and into his bathroom, where he meets Stahl, who is still naked and the two spark up a conversation about a stereo store they had been talking about. Why was this included? I found that it just destroyed the mood set by the previous scene.There is also a major problem with casting credibility. I had a hard time believing that Stahl, with his relatively small physique, could bully Brad Renfro, who is much larger. On a purely psychological level however, Stahl is masterful in creating a truly creepy character and I don't doubt that a large part of the bullying aspect is the psychological part of it. I think if the two switched roles, we would have a far more believable story. On a closer look, the actors do an admirable job of creating such stupid kids. But I felt bad for the actors, in the hands of another director this could have been made into a masterpiece that doesn't rely on exploiting them. Parts of the film seemed to be accepted too easily. Someone mentions killing Stahl and everyone's just like, "yeah, sounds like a plan". I eventually felt sympathy for Stahl's character and could care less about Renfro and his co-horts, which I suspect is exactly the point; that it was Rachel Miner (who herself had many bad acting scenes) who was the vicious one. If you liked Kids, you should adore this. I would urge people to seek out Clark's other film "Another Day In Paradise" if you haven't. Also, "Bully" is based on a true story from the early nineties, which left me asking, "why are the actors watching Eminem videos in the film, when he was only going through puberty in the early nineties?" I don't know. After the murder, the film does pick up. The dialogue gets better, and there is even some good satire about teen/parental relationships. The last moments of the film are powerful, when we see Clark playng a cameo of the hitman's father. The last scene, of the kids in a courtroom is also very good, with them still bickering like morons. And then we see each character and the sentence they receive, where the film abrubtly end with no music for a few seconds, that I thought made quite an impact. The film is definitely worth watching, and no doubt some will enjoy (although "enjoy" may not be the right word) it immensly, but I couldn't help feeling like a shock-artist had tried to put one over on me.
Rating: 
Summary: My Own Private Idaho 2001
Review: To close to home for either the jaded or suburban sheltered, Bully is a film every parent of a teen should see. Stunning from Brad Renfro's first sentence, anyone unmoved by this film has a degree of coldness only a mortuary see's more intense. Much more female nudity than shots of Stahl or Renfro for those wishing to see as much.
Rating: 
Summary: You can tell how people how cool you are!!
Review: The sad reality of art today, is that talent is simply not needed to get ahead. If you want to get some artsy fartsy folks to dig what you do, you simply have to shock and do something that'd make the average person a wee bit uncomfortable. This is the perfect example. Larry Clark used real events to create an anti-teenage propaganda film "exposing" the "real" side of teens. The oh so dark world that we never catch on teen sitcoms or MTV. Would have been nice if he showed that world as it really is. Not with some bumbling, easy to swallow caricature of a troubled, moral-less teenager who will kill on request...as long as it doesn't mess with said teen's cliched, nonchalant drug and sex binges. I don't know. Homoerotic scenes of teen boys fighting, meaningless, exploitive nudity of characters supposed to be in highschool. It's all part of the formula. How can it not be artistic genius if has that in it, right? "Oh, you thought that those repetitive shots of naked teens and close ups of a teens crotch was too much? You must be an art Nazi!". See what I mean. I'm rambling, but the bottom line is controversey eaquals buzz and there are people, very "hip" people who live for that buzz. They want to be hip and nothing's more hip than to love something truly controversial. Even if it's plain ol' bad.
Rating: 
Summary: Disturbingly Honest
Review: I guess one mark of a good film is that it stays with you long after you'd like it to. I would have thought that these kids were a caricature of loser teens except that I met a bunch of kids just like these in California: most had no jobs, they hung around the pool all day, told me of their Ecstasy experiences, some were wasted all the time, their futures consisted of working at Circuit City, their speech was constantly peppered with f**k this or that and their bravado was so transparent it was like pulling teeth to get some real emotion from them. And this was the suburbs. I wondered if their parents knew what they did all day. I looked at my own teenage pot/drug experiences in the '80's and realized our parents didn't know what we were doing all the time either but when they found out we were punished and suffered long lectures. We did well in school and somehow knew our rebellion was part of exploring life and experiencing for the sake of experience. In the movie these parents are clueless and lack any control. They don't probe their kids to any great extent and seem to give up too easily as if it's just too much work to do otherwise. The scene where Marty is at the dinner table telling his parents he wants to move comes to mind. His father says "We're not going to move just because our son is having problems!" Do his parents delve into these problems? Are they really concerned that something may be really wrong if their kid wants to move? The film leaves a hole here making me wonder. One exception is Bobby's father who cares enough to discourage Bobby's friendship with Marty and keeps on him about his future, but he too is oblivious of Bobby's Jeckyll & Hyde behaviour. Were these parents in denial or just lazy? Or are these kids so untethered and lost in their world that they are beyond saving? I am trying to figure out why these kids from nice homes lost all sense of judgement and then had the stupidity to talk about their deed. I can only think that the act gave them some warped sense of purpose and cohesiveness in their vapid lives and Bobby seemed the easiest villain to blame. All of the actors do a superb job here. I saw Nick Stahl in "In The Bedroom" and he no doubt has a bright future in acting. Brad Renfro, right down to his crying drool on the beach, was compelling in displaying a very troubled boy. The film was paced well and despite the nudity and language (otherwise known as real life) I think it would make good required viewing and discussion for teenagers. With all the silly teenage movies out there I think those kids I met in California could stand seeing a relection of themselves.
Rating: 
Summary: "Bully"...a silly, voyeuristic fantasy
Review: I have to disagree with the plethora of positive reviews given for this film. I feel that Larry Clark's previous landmark film "Kids" used graphic sexual imagery, violence, and rampant drug use to portray characters, a culture, and a story that was very real and very understandable, and for that, "Kids" was quite an achievement. Rather in "Bully" Clark uses that same shocking imgagery that hes very well known for, but for a story, a culture, and characters that are very unreal, and a plot that is confounding and ridiculous. All this leads me to believe that Clark's supposed obsession with teenage sexuality, which drove him to produce the ingenious "Kids", has degenerated to mere voyeurism.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully executed...
Review: This film was so awesome. I felt this was a vivid portrayal of raw, teenage angst. Nick was at his best, Brad was definitely a great Marty, and the girls were terrific. The entire cast is what made this film wonderful to watch. I found myself truly immersed in it within 10 minutes. I would like to give kudos to Larry Clark for making this movie. Again, this was a beautifully executed masterpiece of talent!
Rating:
Summary: UNBELIEVABLE! A WORK OF GENIUS!
Review: in the year 2001, there was lots of exellent films..david lynch's MuLholland drive,peter jackson's Fotr adaptation of tolkien's book the LOTR,in the bedroom, there was also j.p jeunet's Amelie,Tom tykwer's Princess and the warrior,michael haneke's La pianiste..etc..and there was Larry clark's BULLY!.(the most underestimated film of 2001). this film version of jim schutze's book Bully "a true story of high school revenge". is one of the most realistic film i've seen since Elem KLimov's "come and see" , and mathieu Kassovitz's "La Haine aka the hate". every single aspect of this film is perfect. and i believe that it is one of the most important film Larry clark has ever done.it also has a touch of voyeurisme that is also recognizable in larry's previous films. i also think that the entire cast of the film is magnificent. how can you possibly take, the jury of the oscars,golden globes..etc, seriously when such a poignant film is totaly ignored? the DVD...surprisingly enough, this dvd has several special features such as "larry clark's interview", the cast interview(separated in 6 segments/per questions..1)characters 2)relationships in film, 3) working with larry ,4)reality of topic, 5)cast & crew, 6)how the actors landed their roles..+ there is also the trailer of the film and a section called "the real people" where you can see the faces of the true persons this film was based on. other suggestions if you adore realisme,cinema verite,and provoking subjects. see, gaspar noe's "I stand alone" , catherine breillat's "FaT GirL" , oliver Hirschbiegel's "Das experiment" , michael haneke's "la pianiste/the piano teacher", larry clark's "Kids" , mathieu kassovitz's "la haine/hate" , andrew dominik's "chopper", Remy beLvaux & benoit poelvoorde's "Man Bites Dog/ c'est arrive pres de chez vous".
Rating:
Summary: One Of The Greatest Film's Ever Made
Review: Larry Clark's Bully is a brutaly honest film and is by far one of the most graphic film's ever made. Its a story about a bully named Bobby Kent who gets killed by his friends because he bully's them and some other extrem things he does which will be better off unsaid. The DVD is great good sound and picture you get the thertical uncut version and some decent goodies on the disk. This film of corse is not a film for most people its by far for adults only but its honest and true and thats what I liked about it its by far one of my personel favorit movies. Warning: This film is unrated do to extremely graphic prolonged sex scenes,graphic nudity,graphic rape scenes,graphic drug use,graphic language,and extremely burtal violence.
Rating:
Summary: What's the Point...
Review: Do we want to see young nubile actors in a cinematic attempt to shock us? Larry Clark comes from the world of photography and art where nobody contemporary is content with shooting bland landscapes. So they photograph body parts of cows pasted against shower curtains and hang pickled testicles as art exhibits. The problem with "Bully" is it doesn't have a sense of irony. While "Kids" tried to portray the lives of young teenagers with "brutal realism", this film lacks the photographic style and acting talent of a Chloe Sevigny or the effective cast of "Kids". If you want to see wanton nudity, Bijou Phillips and Brad Renfro in the buff, this is the film for you. If you want to experience the most annoying and pointless rotating camera pan ever shot, this is the one you want to see. If you want to see a good film about the difficulties growing up, check out "Welcome to the Dollhouse" or something that doesn't overcompensate using violence and sex to cover up a poorly written and acted film.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies of summer 2001!
Review: If you've ever lived in the sleepy, quiet suburbs then this story is all too real for you. Delusional, sex and drug addicted teenagers are nothing shocking and new. We dealt (or deal) with it every day. These are people you knew. A film that says so much about what we choose to ignore. In the wake of disgusting tragedy everywhere inside and outside of our lives, this film explores the rot that lives in the minds of our own children, or peers. While we live with issues of war and conflict with the middle east, we must still remember the troubles at home.
This is one of only 3 movies of the summer '01 that I believe are the BEST. Very powerful. Superb acting and writing! Some gratuitous nudity, but that is no problem.
(in case you wonder Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Donnie Darko were the other 2.)
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