Review of Bully (2001) by James S — 09 Mar 2009

Stark and uncompromising account of a true life case in Florida, Larry Clark's movie is presented in his usual sensationalist and controversial style.

The film takes a while to settle down, the first hour seemingly obsessed with shoving as much teenage sex and nudity at the viewer in what appears to be a blatant attempt at controversy, much of which is unnecessarily presented in such a way.

Once that's out of the way though the film allows it's teenage cast to excel in their roles and builds a dramatic plot which creeps up on the viewer. Brad Renfro, Bijou Phillips and Nick Stahl are all excellent, in particular Stahl, his performance is genuinely hostile and loathsome.

Oddly the film doesn't try to sensationalise the violence, as it does it's sexual content....which makes it seem as though that content is purely there for headline grabbing reasons and ultimately it detracts from the film more than it adds.

Bully is a powerful film and one that does manage to get under you skin and is certainly a greater achievement than Clark's film 'Kids'.