Larry Clark's newest film, "Bully" is a non-stop ride of explicit sex, violence, and drugs, in much the same spirit, as his hit film "Kids". Unlike "Kids", "Bully" is based on a true story that occurred in Hollywood (a suburb of Ft Lauderdale), Florida in July 1993.
Mr. Clark based this movie heavily on the book, "Bully" by Jim Schutze. VERY heavily. In fact, up until after the murder, the movie pretty much reads line for line out of the book. After, the murder Mr. Clark takes a little creative licensing on events. For example, Marty Puccio's house was not raided by the police in real life. He turned himself in. It was Derek Kaufman 'The Hitman' whose house was raided. But these are small quibbles. Also, Mr. Clark didn't cover any of the trials or much of the post-murder police investigation. But, again, these are minor in terms of the story he is portraying.
Two bigger changes that Mr. Clark made was Bobby and Marty's supposed steroid use and Lisa's weight problem. In the book, Marty and Bobby are portrayed as muscle bound steroid users, with steroid aggression, beating up on anybody that got in their way. Whether they actually used steroids or not, Marty and Bobby were very well built in real life. Compare a photo of the real Bobby Kent to one of actor Nick Stahl and you'll see what I mean. The reason, I bring this up, is the book makes it easier to see why people were intimidated and fearful of Bobby Kent. It is kind of hard seeing Mr. Stahl as this ruthless bully.
In the book, Mr. Schutze makes a big point of Lisa Connelly's weight problem. In the movie Lisa (played by Rachel Miner) is very thin and in good shape. The weight problem, which caused her to have problems with getting boyfriends in the book, makes her determination of staying with Marty despite abuse and rape, more understandable.
A casual viewer might not understand why these kinds of points are relevant but they are since the book explored the dynamics of these dysfunctional personalities, whereas, the movie just displays them with no background or foundation. In other words, the book better explored the backgrounds and personalities of the characters than the movie did.
Overall, I like the movie for its entertainment value and enjoyed watching it despite its very dark nature. I think the young actors (especially Brad Renfro) were great. I think the camera work was excellent. And the music was outstanding.
BUT, with that being said. Do not take anything in this movie as 100% factual. There are a great many people who do not believe the book "Bully" to be completely accurate. I personally believe the book to be very fictionialized and completely disliked how Mr. Schutze approached the subject. For example, Mr. Schutze gives no references for any of the 'facts' in his book. One is left to guess if they came from court documents, police reports, the convicted killers, or his own imagination. Some events he described were detailed to the point of unbelieveability. Even his narrative is flawed and inconsistencies can be noticed from one page to another. There are many other flaws in it but this is not the forum to be listing them. I am just pointing this out since the movie was based off the book and therefore might not be completely accurate to what really happened.
Before you see this movie, beware that it is unrated. If it had been rated I couldn't imagine any rating below an NC-17. I actually saw a few older people walk out of the theater during the explicit sex scenes. There is also gay sex, rape, drug use, and heavy violence. So if you do not like that kind of material I would not recommend you see this movie.
If you do go and see it stay thru the whole credits. Mr. Clark listed the killers original sentences just before the credits started but a few of them (Marty, Lisa, and Ali's) were significantly reduced on appeal and two (Derek Dzvirko and Heather) have been released after serving a few years each in prison. Mr. Clark lists this info AFTER the credits roll.
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