All American Bully

Director - Jason Hawkins (The Devil Knows His Own)
Starring - Adrienne King (Friday the 13th), Daren Ackerman (Blood Creek Woodsman), and Alexander Fraser (The Drunk Series)
Release Date - 2011
Genre - Drama
Tagline - "No one is innocent"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     My no horror July has been pretty entertaining so far but I wanted to mix it up.  I have mostly been watching and reviewing sleazy exploitation flicks and teen comedies but I wanted something a little different.  Maybe a documentary or a drama.  I settled on drama and ventured over to my collection where I soon found a review copy of All American Bully which was released by one of my favorite distribution companies Wild Eye Releasing.  The film was directed by Jason Hawkins who is the mind behind the horror film The Devil Knows His Own which I was lucky enough to review a few years ago.  The film is also notable for starring the Friday the 13th alum Adrienne King.  

     The film follows three youths who are a little different.  They play video games, as well as, table top games where they try to collect vintage and rare books on the matter.  The three are constantly bullied by another student who was once friends with them but has since grown out of their ways.  One day one of the group gets in a rare and expensive book but soon the bully shows up and takes it.  They let it slide but the one that bought it can't stand to let them win.   He goes to the bully's secret hideout in the woods where he is drinking and shooting his gun to get his book back.  The bully and his friends kick the shit out of him and send him home packing.  He tells his friends what happened and then reveals that when they were little that he was very close to the bully and once he tried to make out with him.  His friends threaten to tell everyone as school about it which brings tension to a boil and the bully gets a gun to try and stop them.

     When I think of drama I often think of conflict.  The film has to have a great story that shows a great deal of conflict for the protagonist.  All American Bully does that but does somewhat dates it to the 2010's with the rise of Vine, Snapchat, and the power of Youtube.  The acting in this one is not the best.  The cast has a hard time finding their emotions and intensity.  Scenes that are emotionally charged feel lacking while scenes that are just filler are full of emotions that feel out of place.  The direction is out of place in these segments or inexperience reared it's ugly head.  With that being said, the film has a small cameo from Adrienne King who is known among horror fans for being the film's final girl in Friday the 13th.  Sadly, her performance in this film is laughable.  Her character is supposed to be disgruntled over her child coming out.  She blames a teacher at school for telling him to be himself.  However, all she does is scream and yell at the cast.  It is a pain to watch and I'm embarrassed for Adrienne for taking the role.  The story for this one is interesting and takes a look at what it's like to be a teenager in a technology ruled world.  This film would have made a great impact on it's viewer if it was released the year it was made due to the suicides that struck the country over bullying. It is still a bold film even though it is being released 5 years later but the impact is lost due to the fact that social media has took a stand against bullying.  The story also has the same premise as the MTV produced Scream series just lacking the slasher.  Finally, the film does has some blood but the point of this film is to tell a story and not display blood and gore.  The drama is intense at times and does offer up some great moments but that pulls the viewer in.  Overall, All American Bully is a powerful story that has a hard time finding it's footing but once it does it delivers one hell of a great film.  The ending is a little bulky but well worth the watch.  Check it out!