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Bully (2001)
A lot of horrific crimes have occurred where the underlying cause was nothing but bad parenting...kids with too much time on their hands because their parents don' take enough time to find out what their kids are doing when they leave the house, This was the case with the 2006 docudrama Alpha Dog and is also the case with an ugly and senseless 2001 docudrama called Bully featuring a handful of solid performances that do make it worth a look.
We are introduced to the twisted relationship of Marty (the late Brad Renfro) and Bobby (Nick Stahl), BFF's since childhood despite Bobby's constant physical and emotional abuse of Marty, not to mention actually pimping him out to gay men for sex, despite the fact that Bobby seems to be the one confused about his sexuality. Marty's new girlfriend, Lisa (Rachel Miner) and her friend Ali (Bijou Phillips) who has been raped by Bobby, are fed up with the guy and Lisa decides that the only solution is to murder Bobby. Rachel enlists the aid of a small circle of acquaintances, who don't even know Bobby, to do the deed but the consequences of their actions quickly manifest among these kids in varying ways.
Director Larry Clark (who also makes a cameo appearance) has mounted a sordid tale of sex, drugs, and murder based on a book by Jim Schutze and adapted into a screenplay by David McKenna that attempts to glamorize the appeal of a disgusting true life crime by surrounding it with a lot of gratuitous sex, nudity, and drug use. What this film is about takes too long to come into focus as we watch Bobby pimping Marty out in a gay strip club and a few scenes later, Marty has just met Lisa who becomes pregnant with his child.
This Lisa character is really the story's most repellent character. Even though she denies it later, Lisa is the one who sets this whole murder plan in motion and even elicits help from people who don't even know Bobby, including a semi-professional hitman. When it comes time to do the deed, Lisa refuses to actually participate but wants credit for putting the whole plan together. On the other hand, she is the first one to become unraveled after the crime and works overtime at covering her own pampered ass.
Possibly the most disturbing aspect of this story was the willingness of some of these people to be complicit in the murder of a virtual stranger. Fortunately, the epilogue at the film's finale does reveal these kids got what they deserved, but it's a sadly arduous journey to get there. But in that final courtroom scene where the camera pans the faces of all the parents, we know who's really complicit here.
There are some interesting performances though...Brad Renfro once again displays what a major talent he might have become if he hadn't been taken from us. The young Sean Penn quality he brings to Marty is quite powerful and Nick Stahl, who also appeared in the award winning In the Bedroom is an eye-opener as the degenerate Bobby. The film also features an early role for Daniel Franzese, who would make a name for himself later playing Damian in Mean Girls. it's extremely unpleasant and has no re-watch appeal but Renfro's performance alone make it worth a look.
A lot of horrific crimes have occurred where the underlying cause was nothing but bad parenting...kids with too much time on their hands because their parents don' take enough time to find out what their kids are doing when they leave the house, This was the case with the 2006 docudrama Alpha Dog and is also the case with an ugly and senseless 2001 docudrama called Bully featuring a handful of solid performances that do make it worth a look.
We are introduced to the twisted relationship of Marty (the late Brad Renfro) and Bobby (Nick Stahl), BFF's since childhood despite Bobby's constant physical and emotional abuse of Marty, not to mention actually pimping him out to gay men for sex, despite the fact that Bobby seems to be the one confused about his sexuality. Marty's new girlfriend, Lisa (Rachel Miner) and her friend Ali (Bijou Phillips) who has been raped by Bobby, are fed up with the guy and Lisa decides that the only solution is to murder Bobby. Rachel enlists the aid of a small circle of acquaintances, who don't even know Bobby, to do the deed but the consequences of their actions quickly manifest among these kids in varying ways.
Director Larry Clark (who also makes a cameo appearance) has mounted a sordid tale of sex, drugs, and murder based on a book by Jim Schutze and adapted into a screenplay by David McKenna that attempts to glamorize the appeal of a disgusting true life crime by surrounding it with a lot of gratuitous sex, nudity, and drug use. What this film is about takes too long to come into focus as we watch Bobby pimping Marty out in a gay strip club and a few scenes later, Marty has just met Lisa who becomes pregnant with his child.
This Lisa character is really the story's most repellent character. Even though she denies it later, Lisa is the one who sets this whole murder plan in motion and even elicits help from people who don't even know Bobby, including a semi-professional hitman. When it comes time to do the deed, Lisa refuses to actually participate but wants credit for putting the whole plan together. On the other hand, she is the first one to become unraveled after the crime and works overtime at covering her own pampered ass.
Possibly the most disturbing aspect of this story was the willingness of some of these people to be complicit in the murder of a virtual stranger. Fortunately, the epilogue at the film's finale does reveal these kids got what they deserved, but it's a sadly arduous journey to get there. But in that final courtroom scene where the camera pans the faces of all the parents, we know who's really complicit here.
There are some interesting performances though...Brad Renfro once again displays what a major talent he might have become if he hadn't been taken from us. The young Sean Penn quality he brings to Marty is quite powerful and Nick Stahl, who also appeared in the award winning In the Bedroom is an eye-opener as the degenerate Bobby. The film also features an early role for Daniel Franzese, who would make a name for himself later playing Damian in Mean Girls. it's extremely unpleasant and has no re-watch appeal but Renfro's performance alone make it worth a look.