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Bully

  • 2011
  • PG-13
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
11K
YOUR RATING
Bully (2011)
A documentary on peer-to-peer bullying in schools across America.
Play trailer2:15
6 Videos
30 Photos
DocumentaryDrama

A documentary on peer-to-peer bullying in schools across America.A documentary on peer-to-peer bullying in schools across America.A documentary on peer-to-peer bullying in schools across America.

  • Director
    • Lee Hirsch
  • Writers
    • Cynthia Lowen
    • Lee Hirsch
  • Stars
    • Alex Libby
    • Lona Johnson
    • Kelby Johnson
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.3/10
    11K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Lee Hirsch
    • Writers
      • Cynthia Lowen
      • Lee Hirsch
    • Stars
      • Alex Libby
      • Lona Johnson
      • Kelby Johnson
    • 101User reviews
    • 173Critic reviews
    • 74Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 8 wins & 21 nominations total

    Videos6

    Theatrical
    Trailer 2:15
    Theatrical
    The Bully Project
    Trailer 3:55
    The Bully Project
    The Bully Project
    Trailer 3:55
    The Bully Project
    Bully: Clip 2
    Clip 0:49
    Bully: Clip 2
    Bully: Clip 1
    Clip 1:51
    Bully: Clip 1
    Bully
    Interview 0:54
    Bully
    Bully
    Interview 0:28
    Bully

    Photos30

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 26
    View Poster

    Top cast31

    Edit
    Alex Libby
    Alex Libby
    • Self
    Lona Johnson
    • Self
    Kelby Johnson
    • Self
    Bob Johnson
    • Self
    Ja'Meya Jackson
    • Self
    Jackie Libby
    • Self
    Philip Libby
    • Self
    Maya Libby
    • Self
    Jada Libby
    • Self
    Ethan Libby
    • Self
    Logan Libby
    • Self
    Kim Lockwood
    • Self
    David Long
    • Self
    Tina Long
    • Self
    Teryn Long
    • Self
    Troy Long
    • Self
    Devon Matthews
    • Self
    Barbara Primer
    • Self
    • Director
      • Lee Hirsch
    • Writers
      • Cynthia Lowen
      • Lee Hirsch
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews101

    7.310.6K
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    Featured reviews

    7karlericsson

    the American way of life

    In a world of competition one less competitor is a victory for the survivor. We know today that it is cooperation that brlngs about development amongst humans and not competition which only brings about degeneration and death. The American society that allows rich men to bully poor men to death is a society of apes, more or less. Actually it's worse than a society of apes. Competition is hailed because, like this film and other occurrences show, it keeps the poor fighting each other for the crumbs from the rich's table and keeps them from cooperating to get rid of the rich bullies. The American way of life is an abomination - get rid of it.
    10lee_eisenberg

    boys should not "just be boys"

    The issue of bullying has started to get seriously discussed in the past few years, mainly due to suicides, often due to anti-gay bullying. "Bully" looks at bullying in general. Much of it consists of interviews with the bullied students and their parents. One of the important points that the documentary makes is that there is that the reaction to bullying is often "boys will be boys". "Bully" makes the point that these things will continue until we as a society say that it's not acceptable for anyone to let this to happen to people, especially in settings where children expect to be safe. Are we ready to say "Enough is enough" and prevent bullying before it starts?
    10BackCenterRow

    Bully was well made but painful to watch.

    If you are a caretaker of children in anyway I recommend this movie to you. I hope this director may consider doing a movie on corporal punishment in public schools in America. You come away from this movie thinking change could be simple but it is anything but. It takes a lot of support (Money) to create a noticeable change. Many of you may come away thinking, "how could that person be so ignorant". Beware, this movie is painful to watch. I wanted to jump out of my seat many times during this movie wanting to stop the insanity. You may want to write your congress as a place to start. I hope that you see it and I hope that you are educated by it.
    8ascendant01

    A Documentary that EVERY parent should be required to watch.

    --- As a retired law enforcement officer I literally shook with a rage and a fury I haven't felt since I retired while watching this documentary. The problem I saw in these schools was school officials who were more interested in whining about the issue and hoping it would go away on its own rather than becoming pro-active in dealing with it. You start anti-bullying programs in the schools, counseling for victims, a zero tolerance policy and mandatory penalties toward bulling, group sessions with accused kids about what harm they are inflicting, get the PTA involved, require REQUIRE all parents to attend a meeting at the start of school years at which the school's zero tolerance policy and penalties are explained and if they do not attend then their kids do not start school just like vaccination policies. Instead these so called leaders were not really doing much of anything other than trying to defend their zero action response to bullying. --- The documentary makers did a good job in showing the problem and then left the rest up to others. I think they should have maybe spent a bit more time in being a resource about what can be done to deal with the problems rather than just showing it. I also know that I would have been interested to learn a little more about what happened to the kids involved. Though I give credit to the makers for taking a hidden issue and shining the light of day on it.
    9amandad-36447

    The assistant principal in the little boys school

    I HOPE AND PRAY this women was fired after this documentary!! She literally does NOTHING to the bullies. During one scene she even pulled the child that was being bullied aside and let the bully go!!! It is disgusting, suspend and expell these children and I guarantee their parents or guardians will then do something about there children bullying others. Get rid of ALL staff that is not disciplining children each and everytime they are bullying a child!!! I swear I hope and pray this principal or assistant was fired!!! That poor baby thought it was okay because you as a school and district failed him!

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    Related interests

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    Documentary
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Bully was originally rated R for language. The Weinstein Company appealed for a lower rating, as the R rating would exclude the very audience that is was intended for - high-school teens. They lost the appeal for a PG-13 rating by one vote so the distributor surrendered the original rating and opted for their film to be released 'Unrated' to the theaters. Finally, the filmmakers agreed to cut some, but not all, of the relevant language, and the MPAA did agree to re-rate the movie PG-13. The PG-13 version does keep intact all the language in the scene that was the main point of contention between the filmmakers and the MPAA, in which a 12-year-old is physically and verbally attacked on his school bus by his classmates.
    • Goofs
      The scene where Alex is walking down the street and throwing a stick is inverted. The "Mitsubishi" text on the back of the truck is flipped.
    • Quotes

      Bullied Student: I've never had real friends that would stick around and help me.

    • Alternate versions
      A edited version running only 47:11 is included on the USA Blu-Ray edition and is aimed at a younger audience.
    • Connections
      Edited into Bully: Deleted Scenes (2011)
    • Soundtracks
      Teenage Dirtbag
      Written by Brendan B. Brown (as Brendan Brown)

      Performed by Scala

      Courtesy of Rhino Entertainment Group

      By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

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    FAQ19

    • How long is Bully?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 27, 2012 (Iceland)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Bully Project
    • Filming locations
      • Sioux City, Iowa, USA
    • Production companies
      • The Bully Project
      • Where We Live Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,100,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $4,142,648
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $116,472
      • Apr 1, 2012
    • Gross worldwide
      • $4,411,649
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 38m(98 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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