The narrative is interesting because of it being true but it didn't develop the characters well enough to make this as fascinating as it should have been. Fortunately his subject is good enough to prevent it become shocking for shocking's sake. The result here is a rather mixed approach where the true story does necessitate the depiction of teen sex and drug use however Clark does push this more than he really needs to with shots of nude girls on the toilet, graphic drug use and one or two "upskirt" shots of girls' underwear that a gonzo pornographer would have been proud of. However with good reviews I figured that perhaps Bully would be able to have the sexual material within a context. I'm not sure what it is about Larry Clark and teenage sex and nudity but he does seem to have made it a career motif sometimes to good effect (Kids) and sometimes in a way that is exploitative and nasty (the horrid Teenage Caveman springs to mind). When enough is enough Bobby's friends decide to kill him. While highschool drop out Marty gets Lisa pregnant, Bobby's future looks good with college and his father's support ahead of him all this despite raping Lisa's friend Ali. The dynamics of their friendship is not that straightforward though as Bobby is by far the dominant one and thinks nothing of demeaning and bullying Marty and having fun exploiting anyone he sees as below him. Marty and Bobby are friends who work together, drink together, pick up girls together and hustle together. There are some interesting work from the actors. The meandering plot and the aimless teens keep the tension not that high. Director Larry Clark, who directed Kids, is leering a lot at the young people's bodies. Renfro, Miner and Stahl are perfect at being these kids who are spending all their time drinking, smoking and going nowhere.
This tale of disenfranchised youth is quite compelling. The incompetent teens can't get up the courage and decide to get 'hitman' Derek Kaufman (Leo Fitzpatrick) to help. She starts recruits her friends Ali Willis (Bijou Phillips), Donny Semenec (Michael Pitt), Heather Swallers (Kelli Garner) and her cousin Derek (Daniel Franzese). Lisa discovers she's pregnant and convinces Marty to take out Bobby. Marty has sex with Lisa Connelly (Rachel Miner) but Bobby beats him unconscious. The problem is that Bobby is a violent bully who is obsessed with gay porn and uses it to dominate his friends. Marty Puccio (Brad Renfro) is a life long friend to Bobby Kent (Nick Stahl).