Marty and Bobby are best friends in a destructive relationship, where Marty finds himself routinely abused both physically and mentally. Fed up, Marty and his girlfriend, a victim of Bobby's own demented abuse, hatch a plan to murder Bobby. Together with a group of their inebrieted friend, they commit the murder in their small suburban Florida town. In the midst of the aftermath, many of the teenagers come face-to-face with the consequences of their actions. Larry Clark's Bully tackles the darker side of teenage suburbian life, attempting to capture the naive, narcissitic attitude that runs rampant. Given his films, Larry Clark has always had a deep fascination with youth. It's a type of voyeurism, with Bully completely complacent on sitting back and watching these characters destory their lives. The film certainly captures the clueless, naive nature of teenagers whose troubling actions are fueled by pent-up angry and teenage angst. Compared to some of his best efforts, Bully is a film that seems to aim more for shocks and sensualism than any type of poignancy. Bobby is a great example of this, a clearly homosexual young man who hides his secret through machoism and mean-spirit. Bobby is a character who could be much more explored and dramatized but Clark isn't very interested in exploring it. That being said, the film does do a great job with escalation, capturing the increasing peer pressure and naive nature of these characters. Even the Larry Clark haters have to appreciate his unique ability when it comes to casting and recognizing talent. The entire cast of this film, mostly no-names at the time, is loaded with great performances. Most notably of the bunch is Brad Renfro's performance of Marty, a deeply damaged kid with major rage issues because of it. Renfro does an incredibly job blances the two elements of this character, being both passive and unassuming as well as compustible. Darkly funny and as shocking as one would expect from Larry Clark, Bully is a lesser effort from the filmmaker that features strong performances and a twisted viewpoint on american suburbia.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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