Bully
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Documentary
Street Date: February 12, 2013
Available On: DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo

The Film: A documentary that follows five students that represent different aspects of the bullying epidemic in America’s school system.

The Extras: Deleted Scenes, Student Profiles, “The Bully Project at Work” and “Communities in Motion” featurettes

Recommendation: Given that the filmmakers had a difficult time finding a school district that was willing to give them access to their students it’s fairly amazing that “Bully” exists at all. So when I say that “Bully” is fundamentally flawed by the fact that it only focuses essentially one demographic, rather than a variety of locations through out America with different social and economic backgrounds, I realize that I’m asking for something the filmmakers themselves couldn’t do. “Bully” is a difficult film to watch because it involves real kids, real parents and in many cases adults making painful situations even worse. This is a film that needs to be seen by parents and in many cases by parents and their children. “Bully” on its own won’t change anything. It might actually be detrimental in the sense that most of the bullied children have a hard time finding the sort of protection that will make them comfortable. “Bully” should be used as a conversation starter.

-Ryan Michael Painter

(Copyright 2013 Sinclair Broadcast Group)