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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.

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

Genre: Dramas

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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Reviews for Bully

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment 1 Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
12/15/03
Jason Solomons
Jason Solomons
Daily Mail [UK]

A brutal, though darkly humorous film.

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

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: FilmFour.com | comment Comment
03/25/02
FilmFour.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
03/03/02
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's something troubling about a film which, on the one hand, wants to take a moral stance about a lost generation, and on the other relishes shooting the nubile flesh of its young actors.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
02/20/02
Tom Dawson
Tom Dawson
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Larry Clark has an astonishing way of getting into the minds of teenagers.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/10/01
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

...an exploitation teen movie in the pejorative sense of the word.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
07/19/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
07/29/08
Dennis Harvey
Dennis Harvey
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Clark is not a moralist, which is good, but he is not much of a dramatist either. You get the impression that the fascination with youth in his movies, just like in his photos, provides an excuse for voyeurism.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
05/10/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

A bit long and repetitive.

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
03/07/04
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

It’s an unpleasant viewing experience that remains captivating primarily because Clark has made it all look so real and because the murder plot is like a train wreck.

Full Review Source: Mike Bracken's Horror Films | comment Comment
10/17/03
Mike Bracken
Mike Bracken
Mike Bracken's Horror Films

An extremely disturbing tale of escalating peer pressure.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
10/16/03
Jurgen Fauth
Jurgen Fauth
About.com

'Bully' demands attention for the way in which it forces us to watch and digest a dark slice of American society. American beauty this ain't.

Full Review Source: RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) | comment Comment
02/13/03
Tom Grealis
Tom Grealis
RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)

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

hose involved in the real life story this film is based on should be disgusted -- for both sides were truly cheated out of the respect they deserved.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
Heather Wadowski
Heather Wadowski
Film Threat

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
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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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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