Director: Larry Clark (Kids)
Pigeonhole: Drama/ True Crime/ Indie
Basics: *spoiler alert* Bully is based on the real-life murder of Bobby Kent (Stahl), who was killed by a group of friends as a result of his continued physical and psychological abuse against several of them.Marty Puccio (Renfro) and Bobby, both 20 years old, have been "friends" for years. Bobby comes off like sociopath - we see him beat up Marty at several points in the movie, unprovoked. At another point Bobby breaks in on Marty and his girlfriend Lisa Connelly (Miner) having sex, knocks Marty unconscious and rapes her. To complete the trifecta of abhorrent behavior, Marty rapes his own girlfriend Ali (Phillips).
Lisa soon discovers she is pregnant, and wants Marty to get away from Bobby so they can be together without the continued abuses Bobby delivers. Marty, however, seems either unwilling or unable to just "walk away" from Bobby. Lisa decides that the only way she and Marty will truly be free of Bobby is to kill him, and she feels genuinely justified in her actions because of Bobby's cruelties. Lisa and Marty, with the assistance 4 others lure Bobby out one night and kill him in cold blood. However, being young, somewhat naive and unable to conceal their involvement in the murder by keeping quiet about it, all of the conspirators are soon arrested and prosecuted for the crime.
My take: This film is almost difficult to watch at points because even though some elements were fictionalized, it is hard to stomach that this group of young adults have such little regard for themselves, as far as their behaviors go, and that Bobby Kent ends up dead, as a result. However, Larry Clark's films all tend to highlight despondency and self-destruction, with Bully being no exception.
Those elements noted, Bully is a very good film with excellent performances being turned in by the 4 leads. Stahl as Bobby came off perfectly in his role; violent with all his friends, the "perfect" young adult around his dad, and exhibiting OCD behaviors when alone at different moments. While I would not consider Marty likable, I think we feel genuinely sorry for him, in that he cannot ever seem to stand up for himself. He even begs his parents at one point to move away from this neighborhood, to "escape", but without elaborating about his plight, the discussion is dropped. Ultimately, the interactions of the characters all lay the path for Bobby's eventual demise.
Sex and drugs seem to be the only fuel in the daily lives of Marty, Bobby, Lisa, and Ali, beyond the violence that Bobby is inflicting. In an almost strange irony, they all seem to have semi-stable home lives, so they do not appear to be stuck in cycle of abuse; more that their lives are nihilistic and they are passing time for some unknown end. That is, of course, until it is time to face the music for the murder/conspiracy charges.
Art imitating life, or life imitating art?
- Sadly, Brad Renfro died from a drug overdose in 2008, with documented drug use and arrests going back to 1998.
- Nick Stahl has supposedly been know to "disappear", and in 2012 had documented issues related to him going in and out of rehab.
- Bijou Phillips had noted drug and alcohol problems in her teen years.
Recommendation: I highly recommend seeing Bully, it is a very raw, hard-hitting drama. That it is based on a real crime only adds to impact. The soundtrack is excellent, I purchased the CD shortly after seeing the movie.
The version I have is 'Not Rated', although there may be 'R' version out there on DVD. Either way: there is continued use of profanities, drug and alcohol use, nudity, sexual situations, and violence, so I would highly caution anyone who is sensitive to those elements.
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