Review of Bully (2011) by Grëg W — 23 Aug 2009

An unflinching and often disturbing portrayal of the real life murder of bobby kent. bobby kent, played by nick stahl, is a self-absorbed douchebag who considers himself "the man", and constantly berates those around him, including his best friend marty (brad renfro) and his girlfriend lisa (rachel miner).

the neighborhood kids can't take it anymore, including marty, so they decide to conspire to murder bobby in cold blood. they put together a group of seven and complete their task. most of the movie involves them conspiring to kill bobby and the buildup to it, which is done well, except for the camera angles, which, while artistic and symbolizing paranoia, just feel annoying and overdone.

that being said, the acting for the most part is phenomenal for an indie movie, with excellent performances by brad renfro, leo fitzpatrick, and michael pitt. the girls on the other hand weren't anything special.

larry clark, the director, is known for pushing the boundaries of censorship in films, as seen in his first film "Kids" which is very very similar to this, and one of his later films "ken park" which also focuses on the disturbing lives of teenagers.

all in all, this is a grisly and dark movie, and definitely not for the lighthearted. a must see for all indie filmgoers though.