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 I'm no writer, and I posess of-average eloquence, but my need to express my personal impressions of this movie far surpasses my embarassment to write a review. "Bully" was an amazing film. For those who believe Clark was doing the film for shock value are confusing the sex and violence for what really goes on in this town and towns across America. Actually living in the area where the movie was filmed, I experienced what was my middle and high school years all over again (sans murder). The film also captures the mood of the area. The long, hot, boring Florida days that invite any activity to pass the time. The increasing number of high school drop outs in the area only aggravate the the possiblity of kids following in the same footsteps, and believe me, they already do. Clark managed to capture, what I believe to be, an essence as well as recreate a tragic story.
I cannot say that I enjoyed Bully even on an immediate shocking level. The images of teenage debauchery became repetitive and soundly prove that singlularly exploitive material can never substantiate 2 and a half hours of movie viewing. Every character is vulgar and unappealing. Marty is a boorish, mean young man who beats his girlfriend when he finds out she's pregnant. Rachel Miner's character is a loose cannon who purposefully tries to get pregnant just for the attention. Ali meanwhile is a vapid airhead who has sex with a man who previously rapes her...I felt more for Bobby, the title character and "bully" and guy we're supposed to instinctively hate than the other more protoganistic characters. I think it has something to do with Nick Stahl's natural charisma, even while playing a despicable character, and the fact that Bobby is the only character with a sense of ambition. Interminable. Repetitive. Boring. Skip at all costs.
OR Clark is a terrific and breathtaking alternative to the happy facade of teen films such as "She's All That" where all life's troubles can be solved by talking to Mom and Dad who love you so much and everyone has blonde hair whilst driving a Miata. Either way, I'm glad SOMEONE's at least TRYING to create a brutally honest version of teen angst no matter WHAT his motive. The second half was terrific, for sure, and the photography was beautiful. The music was perfect and the acting was surprisingly realistic and well developed. |
I watched this movie expecting little more than loads of sex, violence, and disaffected yet photogenic young people doing "gritty" things. Yet, I still wasn't prepared for not only the sheer quantity of all three, but the artless, formless execution of the story.
Just saw this movie and can't stop thinking about it. Larry Clark might very well be the Fred Durst/Korn/Marilyn Manson/Eminem of the film world where he tries so incredibly hard to show the dark, shocking, disturbing, and depressing world of youth that it's almost as though he's not creating reality at all... but rather an offensive bland of what angry kids THINK their world is encapsulated by... just to profit off these very same children and parents who believe their world to be this way.
