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Bully, based on a true story, is set in the bland suburban streets of South Florida. Hunky, clueless Marty Puccio (Brad Renfro, Apt Pupil) coulda been a contender. He’s got all the makings of a championship surfer, but lacks the incentive (and brains) to make anything of himself other than a pot smoking Eminem clone. His closest relationship is with childhood friend Bobby Kent (Nick Stahl, Disturbing Behavior), an abusive prep. Bobby smacks Marty around, forces him to dance half-naked onstage before a crowd of leering octogenarian Floridians (!), rapes Marty’s girlfriend (Rachel Miner), rapes Marty’s girlfriend’s friend (Bijou Phillips), coerces Marty into making dirty videos, and (in general) is Pure Evil. Marty’s girlfriend suggests that they gather together their friends and put an end to Bobby Kent once and for all. That’s right. They want to kill him in a nearby swamp and leave him for the gators. Why not? They ain’t got nothing better to do tonight!
20 questions for Larry Clark: 1. Is it brave of Larry Clark to explore the “dark underside of youth culture” in films like Kids and Bully, or does that surface controversy exist to disguise his impulse to get young, skinny boys and girls to strip off their clothes for his whims? 2. Lusty male members of the raincoat patrol will find much pleasure in the ample womanly flesh on display. Rachel Miner and Bijou Phillips show off their attractive young bodies from head to toe -- and Miner is seemingly naked in every other scene. My question, if turnabout is fair play, is why we never see any pickle shots of Nick Stahl or Brad Renfro? Was Larry Clark not feeling like an equal opportunity exploitation artist this time around? Oddly enough, the same can be said for Kids. Plenty of pussy here, but is Clark afraid of showing some dick? 3. Speaking of which, in the beauty salon scene, why is there an insert shot of Bijou Phillips crotch, apropos of nothing? She’s sitting there, talking, then you cut to her crotch, then you cut back to her talking again. I know some audience members chuckled a little. Maybe it was all in the name of good, clean fun? Uh...and on top of that, she was wearing shorts! What’s the point? (Exhibit A: L’Humanite, which did the same thing, sans trousers, and actually made sense.)
The copyright of the article Larry Clark's Bully in American Indie Cinema is owned by Jeremiah Kipp. Permission to republish Larry Clark's Bully in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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