American Bully (2009)

This is not anti-American hate propaganda from Hollywood, as alleged by another reviewer. He's way off base. I don't know where he got that Red state, evil, middle American crap. These kids were never revealed as card-carrying republicans.This is a film about a group of American teens with a sick, twisted view of defending our country. The maniacal leader, Brandon, holds ALL Arabs responsible for 9/11 and justifies ANY action perpetrated against ANY of them to be justified on that basis. Profoundly, Brandon's attitude mirrors that of ISIS, which slaughters our innocent citizens because of our military's involvement in the wars in the M.E. I'm sure the other reviewer is as appalled at the crimes perpetrated by ISIS as are the rest of us. This film is fiction (at least I'm not aware of any ties to actual events), but tragically I am sure that actions of this nature occur here to some degree. This film demands that we examine ourselves and do everything possible to ensure that we do not become our own worst enemy. I just hope it's not too late. Likewise, we should all be appalled by the actions perpetrated by this group of lunatics.I have to credit Matt O'Leary in his portrayal of Brandon--great acting.Still, I felt I left this movie without a sense of justice having been served. I really didn't care for the ending.

The one major problem I see in this movie, is that when it starts to get ugly, there is a redeeming point or vantage point missing. It's just too much in one direction without any sound mind. It would have been good, if someone would at least "say something". But that is also where and why the movie can be devastating.Of course the movie touches two very hot topics, that do concern the youth from today (or back then). The main actor is really good too. There won't be an easy explanation of course and you shouldn't expect that from this movie. But his support characters are weak (in character and as actors too). Not an easy watch, especially from one point forward, but also with some some major flaws too.

What could have been a really good film was hampered by some heavy handed direction. American Bully tells the tale of four teens, one of them a most charismatic individual leads the other three into a crime of unspeakable horror. Matt O'Leary who has a brother in Iraq and is getting ready to enlist himself gets suspended from school for showing a beheading video from the wars on terror. He thinks that Jonathan Halayalkar ratted him out and Jonathan is darker complexioned. Ergo he has to be one of those Moslem terrorists. In fact he's a Sikh, but what does O'Leary know from Sikhs? Nor do his friends Marshall Allman, Sam Murphy, and Ross Britz.In fact what do Americans for the most part know from these other cultures? We are a most ignorant people if we were not politicians would not have such an easy time talking us into wars. In this situation Moslem terrorists don't do themselves any good either. Since the Seventies they've done all kinds of unspeakable acts starting with the massacre of those Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Not hard to hate these people as young O'Leary and his friends do.But in point of fact they're punks and nothing justifies what they did. And that they chose a Sikh because they don't know the difference, chalk one up for ignorance.American Bully covers a wide range of troubling issues, hate crimes, bullying, and ignorance and maybe another viewer can add a few more. These issues deserve a better film.

..."American Bully" isn't a bad watch at all--it's miles ahead of a typical "4" film on this site--despite its thematic heavy-handedness and a final coda that has no business being there. Nicely acted by relative unknowns (some of whom are likely to become much better known as they mature), handily directed by co-writer/producer Dave "Push" Rodriquez, and expertly shot by John "Bad Ass" Barr, "American Bully" tells a brutish tale of jingoistic excess reminiscent of Michael Haneke's "Funny Games," although no one breaks the fourth wall.Shot in Louisiana, but with a definite anywhere feel, "American Bully" follows the tragic arc of Brandon (Matt "Eden" O'Leary) and Mike (Marshall "True Blood" Allman) as they and two ne'er-do-well friends (Sam "Three Moons Over Milford" Murphy and Ross "Sinners and Saints" Britz) as they descend into drug and alcohol-fueled xenophobic madness. The script takes just a hair too long to get underway, and to be honest, the bookend prologue/epilogue should have been excised entirely, but I suppose Rodriquez felt he needed the dubious star power of John Savage and Natasha Hentsridge to give his film some oomph. Neither of them was needed whatsoever.Worth a watch despite its flaws. If nothing else, O'Leary and Allman are young actors that are going to be going places, and the rest of the cast ain't too shabby. Current ratings here on the IMDb (as of early September 2012) are totally bogus.