All American Bully (2015)
Starring Adrienne King, Daren Ackerman, Alexander Fraser
Directed by Jason Hawkins
Bullying has become the new American trouble-spot, and if you choose to refute that claim, just take a look at the numbers. A staggering amount of kids are becoming victimized by classmates at a staggering rate, and the inclusion of the internet is merely acting as a tool in order to further torment students. I myself was bullied in school at a young age, but the grounds that kids find themselves on now are completely different than the days of years past, and director Jason Hawkins gives viewers a glimpse inside the fire with his film, All American Bully.
Three friends are the focal point, with the emphasis on Devon (Fraser) and Becky (Alicia Rose), and along with Garrett (Darren Hicks), the trio are a close-knit band of pals that like gaming, comic books and hanging out with each other, mainly due to no one else willing enough to acknowledge them – your atypical nerds, if I may be a labeler for a moment (although there’s nothing wrong with nerds, in my book). Routinely picked on by goonish bully, John (Ackerman), the three sadly have accepted their fates on a regular basis, and one day the threesome are stopped on the road by John and an even more sadistic pal, and the two hijack a valuable book belonging to Devon. Not willing to sit on his hands any longer, Devon commences a march into the woods to retrieve his property, and is attacked by John and a small bunch of fellow thugs, who record the incident and post it online.
With a father who is wheelchair bound and unable to connect with his son, Devon is stuck at a crossroads – either fight back or sit there and take it again and again – a dilemma that many kids right now are dealing with consistently. Secrets will be uncovered, and you’ll get to see a completely different side of more than one character on display here. Adrienne King of Friday the 13th fame plays Principal Kane, a woman who appears to have a very difficult time separating her issues at home from her work, and while King was vastly underused, she still shined whenever on screen. The film is calculating, if not very slowly paced, but the subject matter will keep you hooked, and aside from a few uneasy scenes towards the film’s conclusion, there are messages to be conveyed within, and every one is, or has been on the tongues of the populous over the years. Performances are a bit raw and unfinished, but hey, they all can’t be “Dawson’s Creek” now, can they?
I will without a doubt commend Hawkins on a job well done in tackling a multitude of touchy issues all under the scope of one film, and aside from a few tempo issues, this is a really fine production that should be watched and discussed – recommended.
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Film
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