Bully
(2001)
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Bully, based on a true story, sees Larry Clark return to the violent and disturbing underworld previously documented in his controversial and provocative 1995 debut Kids. A couple of good-looking small town teenage slackers, Bobby and Marty, have known each other forever. They work dead end jobs, do drugs and hustle cash by selling porno home videos and queer phone sex. The sadistic Bobby treats Marty like a toy, dominating him brutally and efficiently. It's how they have always been. They hook up with beautiful, spoiled Ali, and her awkward, vulnerable friend Lisa for a double date on the beach, where Ali is viciously humiliated by Bobby. Lisa falls in love with Marty, and Bobby feels his control slipping... things get ugly. |
Screenshots
Following the more tempered Another Day in Paradise, director Larry Clark steps back into the grit and grime of maximum shock cinema with this outstanding drama. Stylistically echoing his brutal yet dazzling debut feature kids, Clark unleashes a superbly shot movie that's not so much entertainment, as a stomach-churning life lesson. Based on the true story of a sadistic Florida teenager who was hideously murdered by the friends he victimised, the film presents a terrifying snapshot of alienated young America. Turning from powerful social commentary into an authentic horror movie as the nerve-shredding events unfold, this is an ultra-realistic portrayal of morally corrupt youth, illuminated by startling performances from the largely unknown cast. It's both tragic and painfully confrontational, but stands as an undiluted example of independent movie-making at its most vital and compulsive.
Halliwell's Film Guide
Based on a true story, this unlovely but memorable movie offers little in the way of explanation and nothing in condemnation; it is content to observe, and even admire.