Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36186 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-06-16
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Bully, the third feature film from photographer-turned-director Larry Clark, follows the pattern laid down by his debut movie Kids: deploring the amoral fecklessness of today's American teens while lingering (some might say gloating) over their naked bodies--or at least, the naked bodies of the better-looking ones. The plot's based on a real-life murder case that took place in Florida in 1994. High school teenagers Bobby Kent and Marty Puccio have been best friends from infancy--or so Bobby insists. But their friendship consists of Bobby bullying and humiliating Marty. Marty's new girlfriend Lisa decides this has to stop--especially after Bobby rapes her and her friend Lisa. Bobby, she announces, must be killed. She ropes in a few friends to help--none of them over-endowed with brains or savvy--and recruits a supposed "Mafia hitman" who's scarcely any older or brighter than the rest of them.

Though there's an air of moral condemnation hanging over the film, Clark avoids any obvious "society's to blame" angles. His killers are from middle-class homes, not noticeably deprived, and their parents (one of them played by Clark himself) are well-meaning if helplessly unaware of what their kids are up to. Maybe the rap music on the soundtrack--such as the Ghetto Inmates' "Thug Ass Bitch"--gives some clue, but essentially Clark seems to be suggesting that these kids are morally bankrupt because that's just how they are these days. Bully is well shot and well acted, and there's a dark humour to be savoured--especially in the farcically inept murder scene--but in the long run it's a dispiriting experience. –-Philip Kemp

Special Features
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
DVD 9
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1

Synopsis
Bobby Kent (Nick Stahl) is not a nice guy. He beats up his best friend Marty every chance he gets, he abuses Marty's girlfriend Lisa, and he rapes Lisa's friend Ali. From director Larry Clark (KIDS) and screenwriter David McKenna (AMERICAN HISTORY X) comes this gruelling thriller based on the true story of Bobby Kent, a bossy Florida teenager who was beaten to death by a group of his peers.
There isn't a lot to do in the suburban Florida town that Bobby and his friends inhabit. They play violent shoot-em-up video games, they work at the Pizza Hut, they go surfing at the beach, and they cruise in their hot rods. But mostly, Bobby and his friends have lots of sex. The film is drenched in graphic shots of barely legal naked teenagers. (This has been Clark's favorite subject matter since his days as a photographer, as illustrated in his 1997 book TEENAGE LUST.) Sexual identity is an undercurrent in Bobby's story: he watches gay porn while he rapes Ali, and he forces Marty to dance with him at a gay club. Some of the other teenagers think that Bobby and Marty are a couple. But this is a minor issue. They decide to kill Bobby because he's a bully who has hurt and angered them; and because they're bored and desensitized to violence. In BULLY, Clark provides another hard look at the hard lives of American teenagers, in all their confusion. It isn't pretty.

Customer Reviews

Sex and violence
This was a little known film, only released in selected cinemas, based on a True story about several Florida teenagers who plot to murder a violent Bully.

The film involves many sexual scenes, including a rape, which have been labelled, by many, as gratuitous. The purpose of these scenes is to depict a level of realism (I am sure their critics can not deny that teenage sex takes place) and is not glamorized in any way (It was noted in certain review that the actors bodies have bruises and cuts), and the consequences, such as unwanted pregnancies are also explored. However Bully is considerably more graphic than 'Kids' (Larry Clark's controversial 1995 picture)

The camera work is excellent (except for one nauseating scene where the camera is constantly spinning) and an atmosphere is maintained throughout the entire film.

These little known actors (at the time of filming) perform exceptionally well and I am sure they will go on to greater things. The Bully (Nick Stahl) will be staring in a major roll (John Connor) in Terminator 3.

This film must be watched without prejudice to enjoy it to its full extent. If you object to strong language or sex in movies then I do not recommend this movie, but to the rest of us it is a very powerful drama. This film stuck in my memory for days after watching it.

If you enjoyed this film you may also enjoy 'Kids' (Larry Clark) or 'Requiem for a dream' (Darren Aronofsky)

Sensational, not sensationalist!
If you've decided to check out this film for its supposedly gratuitous scenes of sex and violence... Well, there are sex scenes (a couple in quick succession at the very beginning) and there is some violence. But are the sex scenes a turn-on? Are the violent scenes the typically comic (some might say "cartoon") violence we've come to expect from Hollywood? Well, to the 1st question I would have to say, "Er... One was, in parts...!" and to the 2nd, "Nope. Absolutely not." The sex scenes are as arbitrary as the relationships & lives of the characters, the violence isn't savoured, it's in your face then gone. This film isn't an easy ride, it doesn't conform & it won't let you enjoy it without making you think about it. I was genuinely moved by the performances, particularly Brad Renfro as the Bully's victim. Not a "popcorn & buddies" kind of film, but one I recommend watching more than once.

A Brutal and Powerful Film (4.5 stars)
"Bully" is as disturbing as a movie can get. It shakes you hard and once it gets its grasp on you, it never lets go until it's all said and done. It's also a movie that is guaranteed to stay in your head for days, no matter how hard you try to forget it. This is a chilling and powerful film, and one of the darkest movies I have seen this year so far.

Based on a true story, "Bully" is about a guy named Marty, who is always getting beaten up and tormented by his best friend Bobby. Bobby's one nasty and mean character who does what he wants when he wants. He's been known to be sexually abusive towards women and unleashes his violent temper upon anyone who gets in his way. Not being able to take it anymore, Marty and his girlfriend decide maybe it's time that something should be done. They get together with a group of friends and decide they have to kill Bobby What seems to be a simple plan falls apart right before their eyes, and once the deed is done they can never go back to the way things were.

This film is directed by the same man who did "Kids," Larry Clark. He does a superb job of orchestrating this brutally chilling force of a movie that knocks the air right out of your body. The cast and crew were also great. Every actor did their roles justice. Especially the man who plays Marty. As I was watching this, I kept asking to myself "This is a true story??" in complete disbelief.

Be warned, this is a VERY uneasy film to watch. Not a second goes by in where there isn't something shocking going on. This is another one of those movies that isn't meant for everybody, but I still think it's an important film. Bullying is a very serious subject that plagues the world every day. This movie reveals the true ugliness of that and shows just how far some will go to stop it.

"Bully" is a success in my eyes, as hard as it was to watch. "Kids" is also very disturbing as well, but on much more different level. Again, this isn't a movie that everybody is going to like. In fact, I'm willing to bet that many who have attempted this movie were forced to stop it and were unable to finish it. Be warned, this is a very uneasy movie to watch. The scary reality of it all is these types of things happen all the time...