Bully

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Bully is another piece of typical Larry Clark fair; with teen violence, drug use, sex and 'bad' language. And lest we forget the usual onslaught of gratuitous, languid camera shots posed, mainly, at female body parts. So where's the bad, I hear you say?
This is bit of an oddity, like Gummo, insofar as it made me go from feeling that the characters in this true'ish story of the killing of a bully were hateful, but then almost likeable in their freedom from the grimes of conventional life - adulthood They 'represent' the middle ground American youth who have time and either their own expendable income or friends to supply it in il/legitimate recourse. Though like Gummo, the individuals are seriously lacking in grey matter and only possess the American capitalist's teen dream of acquire to burn and get rid of obstacles and commitments posthaste ala immediate gratification/abandonment.
As with Clark's other work Kids, the scene is clearly set whereby females use their sexuality to get where they want to be and the males prey on this. Though it's unclear who the real victims are as both genders appear lost in Freudian id land whereby higher consciousness is obfuscated to drink,drugs and sex in a teen cultural normacy of self/abuse.
All in all it's another too out there to be true type tale that conversely manages to be realistic. In other words, Eminem has this and gets 'inspiration' from it.

[Geezer]

Keep meaning to see this saw kids a long while ago and liked it a lot. So should get round to it.

"Casper the dopest ghost"

So Encaser, did you like it or not?

[James45]

kids was really disturbing!

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SG, I did like it. It has uncomfortable moments in violence and sexual exploitation of both males and females but it is more than that.

Cheers. I thought Kids was okay but not great. Style-wise, I loved it; but plot-wise I felt it didn't have enough. Reckon this is better in the plot department?

Mind you, having said that - I've watched Kids twice now on Ch4 so I suppose there must be something I like about it

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SG, it's not brilliant but like kids has something that keeps you viewing (can't think what ) until the end. In Bully you will probably get 40-50 minutes in and think it's all over storywise and/or these characters deserve no more of your thought out time. But it develops some more and the ride is enjoyable and at the very least confirms that you are best

Well, finally bought this from DVDSoon as it was going cheap and watched it this evening.

Have to say, I really enjoyed it. Much better than 'Kids'. The film was paced well and the characters were believable and realistic. However, the first 40 mins or so made me think that this was just a porn movie with a plot. There's minge everywhere But that plot is there and so are the characters, and you realise after a while that it's all there for a reason. As Encaser says, it is hard to point a finger at who are the victims here, as all seem influenced by their peers and surroundings. So at the end of the film you're left feeling that all were victims in a way. The violence is uncomfortable and I did find myself wincing at some bits, but overall it was justifiable and I'm sure Larry Clark would be pleased with the effect on audiences.

The fact that 'Bully' is based on a true story makes it even more disturbing. (Some extra info is given in the post-credits text btw.)

Inmate numbers are given on the disk in the Special Features section, along with a website address for the Florida Dept of Corrections, so you can read up more about the real characters involved (and see real photos). A nice touch as a special feature I thought Looking at the photos, it's amazing how rough Lisa, Ali and Heather are in real life compared to their on-screen counterparts

It was a 7/10 for me Now if they would just realise an anamorphic unrated version of 'Kids' ....