Bully

I really enjoyed this new-age after-school special.

There were no award-winning performances, and the timing was a little forced, but overall, it worked.

The intentionally awkward scenes were done properly and kept me engaged.

The teen facial expressions were on-point.

This movie did not require me to commit to anything, and was very predictable, but that was part of its charm.

It was a nice family type movie my only problem is it is not realistic as in most bullying cases.. other kids don't look out for the bully in fear that they will be shunned. Most bullying movies are like this but in actuality the person being bullied does not have the support of other students.

Some light comedy and a few surprise actors brought the grade up

5.2

This is a fun, feel-good film with likeable characters, just a few laughs, and an upbeat happy ending. It's about as far from a masterpiece of film making as one can get, but it has a lot of heart and it had me smiling throughout. As someone who watches a ton of films and severely dislikes most of them (just look at my ratings), this was a very pleasant surprise.

In "Bully", a punk and his gang enjoy making life miserable for the weaker kids...in particularly, the pudgy and out of shape Jimmy. However, it goes way beyond this...the bully is also trying to extort money. Either Jimmy pays, or he gets beaten.

After one nasty encounter with the bully, an older man, 'Action' Jackson* (Ron Canada) sees Jimmy getting his butt whipped. In response, he offers to introduce him to Manny (Danny Trejo)...a guy who runs a boxing gym. Now, perhaps, Jimmy will feel confident and be able to stand up for himself.

While I enjoyed seeing this film (hey, who doesn't mind seeing bullies get their butts kicked?), the film seems to downplay or ignore one major issue....this IS criminal behavior. The bully is trying to extort money from Jimmy and I am surprised no one called the cops because of this. You can (and should) get jail time for this.

This film far better than a lot of the reviews I read.....were we watching the same film? The acting wasn't bad...and Trejo and Canada were great. There is a lot of cursing, while might bother some parents, but I actually think it's a pretty good film for teens.

*This name might sound familiar...it's the title of a 1988 action film starring Carl Weathers.

Not much nuance to the plot, and a pretty basic execution, but it was still an enjoyable diversion if you like underdog movies. The characters were likable, and the ending sufficiently satisfying. Again, no cinematic masterpiece, but a simple, fun movie.