Review of Bully (2011) by Morten Ø — 21 Feb 2009

Having seen Ken Park recently and Kids a few years ago I wondered if 'Bully' could meet my fairly high expectations. I had heard about the murder scandale in Florida where some kids murdered a friend, but with Larry Clark as director I figured that this movie wasn't going to be a one-sided version of the events.

Bobby Kent, the guy who is later killed, is a complete dick and the small group of friends decide to kill him. The movie uses a lot of its time to portrait the built-up to this event and how the teenagers spend their time taking drugs, drinking alcohol and/or having sex. They are not in school, they don't work particularly much and really don't have much to do with their lives, so it kinda makes sense that they do what they do, even though it's quite horrifying to watch.

We have absolutely no sympathy for Bobby what so ever, but the scene where he gets killed is still absolutely dreadful to watch. The group team up on him and stab him, beat him and finally drown him. Whatever asshole Bobby might have been, he didn't deserve what he had comming at all.

The movie doesn't explain itself or gives us any answers. It just portraits how a teenage surbubian life can be with parents being that doesn't really care, a lot of time and a fairly amount of money to spend. It's not only a criticisme of the American lifestyle, but also a display on bunch of kids completely let down by family and society. Great movie.