Bully (2001) on Netflix
In South Florida, Marty has taken years of abuse from his best friend, Bobby. Lisa, Marty's girlfriend, proposes that the group murder him, and other friends are pulled into the plan.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.9/1042,495 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes55%
Trailer
Plot summary
Marty Puccio and Bobby Kent work at a deli in South Florida, where Bobby has spent years beating and humiliating his best friend. Lisa Connelly, Marty's girlfriend, is pregnant and believes the child may be Bobby's, since Bobby raped her after beating Marty unconscious. Ali Willis, a friend of Lisa's, has also been abused by Bobby. Marty says the abuse began when they were boys and involved drugs. Lisa proposes that the group murder Bobby, and the teenagers recruit help: Ali brings her boyfriend Donny Semenec, who smokes pot and drops acid, and Heather Swallers, recently released from rehab, while Lisa brings her shy cousin Derek Dzvirko.
Cast
- Nathalie Pauldingas Claudia
Show all 20 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Bully (2001)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The production stalled for years after the Columbine shootings scared financiers away, until screenwriter David McKenna argued that Columbine and similar tragedies actually justified telling this story, saying it was time people "woke up to the way many of our kids are living."
- Jake Gyllenhaal and Ashton Kutcher were both considered for Marty before Brad Renfro was cast, and Nick Stahl doubted he was right to play bully Bobby Kent, calling himself "the polar opposite" physically of the real man.
- The MPAA gave the finished film an NC-17 despite Clark seeking an R, so he released it unrated, and executive changes at Lionsgate shrank its planned wide release down to just six theaters.
- The plainclothes officer who arrests Marty on screen is played by Frank Ilarraza, the police detective who made the real arrest in 1993.
- Producers secured the rights to Dr. Dre and Eminem's "Forgot About Dre" for the soundtrack simply because Eminem was a fan of director Larry Clark's work.
- Larry Clark turned down several drafts of the screenplay in favor of filming scenes straight from Jim Schutze's book, which featured real court testimonies and first-hand accounts of the murder.
- Zooey Deschanel was originally cast as Ali Willis but had to drop out because she was simultaneously filming Big Trouble, which was shooting in Florida at the same time.
