Metascore

Mixed or average reviews - based on 26 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 41 Ratings

  • Starring: Brad Renfro, Nick Stahl
  • Summary: A film based on the true story of the brutal 1993 murder of high school student Bobby Kent.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 26
  2. Negative: 9 out of 26
  1. 100
    Larry Clark's Bully calls the bluff of movies that pretend to be about murder but are really about entertainment. His film has all the sadness and shabbiness, all the mess and cruelty and thoughtless stupidity of the real thing.
  2. 80
    If you stick with Bully through its seemingly endless repetition of themes and its hurl-inducing hand-held camerawork, it does build a crude, indefinable power.
  3. With its smooth skinned cast and demonized adults, doesn't feel very authentic.
  4. Just withers compared with many older, better movies about teen alienation and nihilism, from "Rebel Without a Cause" to "River's Edge."

See all 26 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 29
  2. Negative: 6 out of 29
  1. RobertN.
    10
    I followed the court case and i feel although the characters might not have been portrayed as they looked and for the most part as they felt. Larry Clark did a wonderful job making them real. Every actor and actress in that movie was amazing. I am sorry to see so called "movie critics" cant see that Expand
  2. Dr.S.
    8
    I still find this story fascinating and disturbing. The movie did give some gratuitous "clark" shots, but face up; some teens drink, do drugs and have sex. South Florida has been a decadent wonderland since Jackie Gleason owned Miami Beach. Factor in our greed-driven economy which forces a two-parent income and then wonder why there is no teen supervision. The gloss of the movie combined with the grit of the true story makes this flick get your attention! Expand
  3. DerekF.
    7
    I feel this movie was pretty wacked. It made you think, that there are people out there who are capable of killing someone just because they can't take thier abuse. Expand
  4. TealH.
    3
    While it's true that Bully resembles some of the nitty gritty stuff of angsts working class teens, the myriad of flaws tip the scales and make the movie just awful. I expected MUCH better acting from Brad Renfro, who I'm usually a huge fan of. If someone had told me that this film was made by a couple of freshman college film students, I'd believe it unquestioningly. Creepy, often dull, and if it makes any sense, this movie is just plain senselessly mean. No chemistry between characters, no suspense, no point. Expand

See all 29 User Reviews

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