On September 14, 1995, I went on a date with a girl named Elena. Actually, it was more of a semi-date. Wait, lemmie set it up... Elena and I worked in the Miami International Mall. I worked at Tekno Comix, she worked right across from me at a clothing store called Merry-Go-Round. She was a comic book fan, so on occasion, she would walk over and we'd babble. She was very cool and incredibly beautiful, so I didn't think I had a chance with her. I didn't even try. A guy I worked with also had a thing for her, and asked her to go bowling with him. He was nervous, so he asked me to come along. I said I would, so the three of us went bowling, and even though he was the one who was trying to get together with her, it was she and I who hit it off. Soon I was going to her store to buy clothes I didn't like just so I could talk to her. One day, she ran over to me, handed me a note, and ran back to her store. In the note, she wrote about how she wanted to see a movie, but no one would go with her. She wanted to know if I was interested in going, "no strings attached." A girl who likes movies, comic books, AND happens to be gorgeous is a combination I'd be an idiot to ever reject, so a few hours later, Elena and I were on our way to see a small independent film called "Kids."
"Kids" is the last movie you'd ever wanna see on a date, especially a first date. It's a gritty, depressing movie about kids in their early teens who do drugs, have unprotected sex, and basically get into a lotta trouble. Despite having almost no nudity, it was a very raw movie that was far too strong for an R-rating. It was shot in a voyeuristic style that made it seem like you were peeking into something forbidden, and the acting, which was done by complete unknowns, was horrifyingly convincing. "Kids" is a truly disturbing movie, but it's brilliant, and it's one of my favorite movies of all-time.
The director of "Kids" was a controversial photographer named Larry Clark, and that movie was his feature film debut. After "Kids," I knew that Larry Clark was a director whose career I'd follow. Three years later, he directed a movie called "Another Day in Paradise," which starred James Woods and Melanie Griffith. It was released theatrically as R-rated, but the Unrated director's cut is available on DVD, and that's the one I saw. It's a pretty good movie, and though it has some disturbing moments, it's not nearly as shocking as "Kids," nor is it as good. Then I heard some rumbling about his third movie. It was a movie that had lots of controversy surrounding it. I read some reviews from people who called it a masterpiece, but I read others that compared it to porn. Ah yes, how I love controversy. That movie in question is called "Bully," and I finally saw it the other day. "Bully" is a very, very disturbing movie. The problem is that what's disturbing isn't necessarily the finished product as much as the fact that the ones involved were all willing participants. The actors and actresses are truly uninhibited, and I commend them on their incredible bravery. As for Larry Clark, I have to wonder about him. Is he just a director doing his job, or is he a deviant who gets off on filming young people having sex? There's this one brief crotch shot (the crotch in question is covered, but fairly revealing) that seems completely outta place and unnecessary. I have no clue why it was there. Still I DID like "Bully." It was good, and I thought it was well made, but was it up there with "Kids"? Not even close.
The cast is filled with young people you may have seen before. Brad Renfro was the kid in "The Client," and he starred in "Apt Pupil" opposite Ian McKellen. He's also in "Ghost World," which I would see a few days after seeing this one. He's broken a few laws recently, including drug-related stuff, and I think he tried to steal a boat or something. He's a good actor, too bad he's a criminal. Also, he uses saliva a lot in this movie. Like, there's this one part when he cries, and he has this thick string of saliva hanging down. What's up with that? It was pretty nasty. Rachel Miner plays his girlfriend. While watching the movie, I was thinking about how familiar she looked. Then I remembered her from an episode of "Sex and the City." She was a VERY different character there. Oh, she was once married to "Home Alone" star, Macaulay Culkin, by the way. Nick Stahl plays the bully that the movie's title refers to. He was the kid in the Mel Gibson movie, "The Man Without a Face." He was also in a movie called "Disturbing Behavior," which is probably a more appropriate title for THIS movie. Then there's Bijou Phillips. Damn. She's pretty damn hot. Aside form being an actress, Bijou Phillips is a singer and former model. She's been in several movies lately, none that I've seen, but she's been getting the attention of a lotta people. She's very talented, I must say. Also, there's Michael Pitt (no relation to Brad... he had a small role as "Coleridge" in "Finding Forrester"), Kelli Garner (I'm unfamiliar with her early work... she was only 16 when the movie was being shot, and I'm pretty sure she showed no nudity... she makes out with Bijou Phillips, though) and Daniel Franzese (his feature film debut). For those of you who saw "Kids," do you remember the notorious character, "Telly"? He was the main character, the one trying to "devirginize" two girls in one night. The actor who played him is Leo Fitzpatrick, and he's been in all three of Larry Clark's movies. By the way, the guy who plays his father in this movie is director Larry Clark.
The acting is first-rate. These are all truly courageous performers, and the acting is so good, it's scary. The standouts are probably Nick Stahl and Leo Fitzpatrick. Nick Stahl is absolutely terrifying and Leo Fitzpatrick is fun to watch. Bijou Phillips is great, but I was distracted by her aesthetic qualities. I think Brad Renfro was a little over the top sometimes (like with the saliva), but he did a good job. Larry Clark seems like an okay actor, but he didn't really have a lotta screen time, and only a couple of lines of dialogue.
The script was written by Zachary Long & Roger Pullis, and this is the debut for both of them. It's based on the book by Jim Schutze, which is about an actual news event. In fact, for me, it's a local one. I live in South Florida, and that's where the stuff in this movie supposedly took place. I even remember when it was all over the news. The thing is, though I haven't read the book, I skimmed through some of it. Some of the same dialogue was used, but it seems like there was a lotta sex thrown into the movie that wasn't in the book. In addition, the movie made Nick Stahl's character much more evil than he was in the book. Then again, how accurate was the book anyway? While researching this movie for the review, I found out about a web site (http://www.freelisaconnelly.com/) that claims that the book and the movie are filled with lies. The web site says that they've been forced to censor a lot of what was there because of death threats from the movie's producers and other people. I E-Mailed the web master trying to find out more, but I've yet to get a response. Anyway, check out the web site. It's pretty interesting.
"Bully" is a good movie that has quite a few shocking moments. It's nowhere near as good as "Kids," and it drags a bit, but I definitely recommend seeing it. It's one of those movies where you just HAVE to see it, ya know? Not because it's an awesome movie, but because there's a lot there to talk about. "Kids" went further than an R-rating would allow, and it deserved to be Unrated. "Bully," on the other hand, went WAY further than an R-rating would allow, and REALLY deserved to be Unrated.
Oh, just to let you know, about a week after we saw "Kids," Elena became my girlfriend. We broke up a little less than a year later, but we're good friends to this very day.
Scale of 1-10: 7