Bully

There's something about the kids in Larry Clark's films, such as this, Bully, and his 1995 classic Kids (which took place in New York and had the feel of an un-interviewed documentary), where the characters are brought so vividly to life, and their contemplations and actions in their dead-end lives, that I get reminded of the people I was around back in my grade school days (I've been out of the public school system for six months now). I remember the lay-abouts, the complainers, the overly medicated, and of course I remember the bullies, laying on abuse that sometimes they weren't even aware they were inflicting.

Nick Stahl plays Billy, bully among a circle of teenage friends in Hollywood, Florida, and his best friend from childhood is Marty, played with striking intensity by Brad Renfro, has been daily receiving torment, if not with punches and slaps, then more on the mental side. Soon, his girlfriend makes a suggestion "he should be killed", and very soon after that the circle of friends agree, and then it continues, along with a so-called hit man, a good small part for Fitzpatrick who was noteworthy in Kids.

There will be some out there who may not be able to stomach the elements - it's unrated, not a bad move, and there are as many moments of sex as in a Cinemax soft porn and as many moments of smoking dope as in a Method Man/Redman production - but that's all part of Clark's overall effect, and he pulls it off like a true craftsman and not as a overly exploitation film-maker. This circle of friends are a sad, hollow representation of the kinds of societies the youth of the nation inhabit, and the key is that it's correct, at least in such a banal suburbia. Grade: A

Marty and Bobby are friends who work together, drink together, pick up girls together and hustle together. The dynamics of their friendship is not that straightforward though as Bobby is by far the dominant one and thinks nothing of demeaning and bullying Marty and having fun exploiting anyone he sees as below him. While highschool drop out Marty gets Lisa pregnant, Bobby's future looks good with college and his father's support ahead of him – all this despite raping Lisa's friend Ali. When enough is enough Bobby's friends decide to kill him.

I'm not sure what it is about Larry Clark and teenage sex and nudity but he does seem to have made it a career motif – sometimes to good effect (Kids) and sometimes in a way that is exploitative and nasty (the horrid Teenage Caveman springs to mind). However with good reviews I figured that perhaps Bully would be able to have the sexual material within a context. The result here is a rather mixed approach where the true story does necessitate the depiction of teen sex and drug use however Clark does push this more than he really needs to with shots of nude girls on the toilet, graphic drug use and one or two "upskirt" shots of girls' underwear that a gonzo pornographer would have been proud of. Fortunately his subject is good enough to prevent it become shocking for shocking's sake. The narrative is interesting because of it being true but it didn't develop the characters well enough to make this as fascinating as it should have been. Instead of doing this for the first half, we instead just see lots of actions (nudity, fighting, drugs) which fills the time but is not the same as writing good characters. The overuse of nudity in this part is excessive and rather tiring and I did start to feel that Clark maybe doesn't understand his characters but he does know from the reports what they did, so this is what show.

The part of the film that occurs after the murder is much more interesting and convincing and this helps cover the weaknesses of the first part. For all Clark's excesses in his films he does know how to draw good performances from his young casts. Stahl is impressive in the lead and does the best he can with his character producing some nice contradictions within this boy – shame that Clark isn't that interested in this. Renfro is not quite as convincing a person although he does work well as the slightly weak-willed loser. Phillips is better while Miner is a straightforward character – with both of them I felt a bit uncomfortable watching them be naked so often as they were. The rest of the cast are all as realistic and natural and, although they come over as stoned out losers and the dregs of youth culture but then that was the point I suppose.

Overall then an impacting film but nowhere near as insightful or as important as it should have been. Instead of delving into the subject, Clark is happy to just show us how they lived – with lots of sex and drug use, which was necessary to a point but shouldn't have been allowed to be as much of the show as it was. Worth a look for those used to Clark's approach but not as good as it should have been.

In a nutshell: Disturbing, yet compelling. Should I feel bad about having enjoyed it? I feel like I should. At least I know now without question what Larry Clark is all about (not that I didn't already know after "Teenage Caveman").

While Nick Stahl was convincingly despicable and even Leo Fitzpatrick seemed more real than real, Brad Renfro OWNS his role as Marty. He was just so natural in the part that I can't help but think that, if he keeps making the right choices, he'll one day be considered a "great actor." One can only hope.

I watched this movie because I had seen Kids and thought that it was a pretty well directed movie. I base a lot of my movie viewing on directors and I figured that I would give Larry Clark a shot. I knew nothing about the movie before viewing it, I didn't even read the back of the DVD. This movie was one of the most astonishing films I have ever seen and I have seen a whole lot of them. The fact that it is based on a true story amplifies the impact. I will definitely read the book that it is based on and would recommend this film to my peers. As a warning, there is a good bit of nudity, strong language, and violence. But if you can sit through it, its worth it!

Raw, realistic, deeply disturbing and haunting film about a group of recently graduated high school kids whose lives are aimless and empty. With nothing better to do, they get together to plot the murder of their mean best friend (Nick Stahl), who was the only one bound for college and to make something of himself. With none of your usual Hollywood gloss and a well selected cast (especially Stahl in a creepy performance), this film has many powerful moments and completely draws you into it's story. Shockingly enough, based on a true story.

Unrated; Strong Sexual Content, Graphic Violence, Profanity, and Nudity.