American Bully (2009)

A middle-American teenage boy who is affected by 9/11, terrorism, and the war in Iraq becomes involved in an isolated high school altercation that escalates into a hate crime that shocks the entire nation.

Director:

David Rodriguez (as Dave Rodriguez)

Writers:

Zak Meyers, David Rodriguez (as Dave Rodriguez)

Stars:

Matt O'Leary, Marshall Allman, Jonathan Halyalkar

3 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Matt O'Leary	...	Brandon O'Leary
Marshall Allman	...	Mike Grossman
Jonathan Halyalkar	...	Eric Singh
Sam Murphy	...	Bo Aznabev
Ross Britz	...	Kyle Castranovo
Brooke Johnson	...	Michelle
Meghan Stansfield	...	Charlotte
Paul Ben-Victor	...	Principal Wheeler
Natasha Henstridge	...	Carol Mills
Dan Wells	...	Deputy LeBlanc
Sam Blan	...	Video Executioner
John Savage	...	News Producer
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brendan Aguillard	...	Young Boy 1
Chase Alan	...	Young Boy 2
Debby Gaudet	...	Defense Attorney

Storyline

A middle-American teenage boy who is affected by 9/11, terrorism, and the war in Iraq becomes involved in an isolated high school altercation that escalates into a hate crime that shocks the entire nation.

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Taglines:

america's innocence lost.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content, a scene of sexuality, drinking, drug use and pervasive language - all involving teens

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 March 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Bully

Filming Locations:

9000 West Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$857,000, 30 August 2012

Company Credits

Production Co:

K2 Pictures (II),Cine Relevante,Dirty District Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paul Ben-Victor and Natasha Henstridge previously appeared in Standoff (1998).

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Quotes

Eric Singh: Hey, fuck you, you redneck pieces of shit!

User Reviews

Chalk One Up For Ignorance

What could have been a really good film was hampered by some heavy handed direction. American Bully tells the tale of four teens, one of them a most charismatic individual leads the other three into a crime of unspeakable horror. Matt O'Leary who has a brother in Iraq and is getting ready to enlist himself gets suspended from school for showing a beheading video from the wars on terror. He thinks that Jonathan Halayalkar ratted him out and Jonathan is darker complexioned. Ergo he has to be one of those Moslem terrorists. In fact he's a Sikh, but what does O'Leary know from Sikhs? Nor do his friends Marshall Allman, Sam Murphy, and Ross Britz.

In fact what do Americans for the most part know from these other cultures? We are a most ignorant people if we were not politicians would not have such an easy time talking us into wars.

In this situation Moslem terrorists don't do themselves any good either. Since the Seventies they've done all kinds of unspeakable acts starting with the massacre of those Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Not hard to hate these people as young O'Leary and his friends do.

But in point of fact they're punks and nothing justifies what they did. And that they chose a Sikh because they don't know the difference, chalk one up for ignorance.

American Bully covers a wide range of troubling issues, hate crimes, bullying, and ignorance and maybe another viewer can add a few more. These issues deserve a better film.