Movie review: ‘Bully’ packs an emotional wallop

According to the film, 13 million U.S. students are bullied each year. (Image from The Bully Project)

If you feel like you’ve already read quite a bit about the documentary “Bully,” you have. But that still won’t prepare you for the experience of seeing it.

“Bully” has been in the news a lot lately because it received a restrictive R rating (for a small amount of bad language) and then chose to go into theaters unrated. Its distributor, Weinstein Co., made that choice because the film’s subject matter, the pervasiveness of school-related bullying and what can be done about it, would seem to cry out for a high-school age and younger audience. And “Bully” has an emotional impact that must be viewed to be understood.

A passion project for filmmaker Lee Hirsch, who also served as his own cinematographer, “Bully” hopscotches around the country looking at the situations of five different children who have suffered the effects of bullying.…Read More

Amid controversy, ‘Bully’ to be released without rating

Rather than release the film with the "R" rating the MPAA has given it, the makers of "Bully" will release it unrated in a calculated risk.

After an online petition and calls from celebrities failed to change the minds of the motion picture ratings board, the Weinstein Co. is moving past the “R” rating earned by its documentary “Bully” and now plans to release the film unrated.

The company announced March 26 that “Bully” will hit theaters March 30 without a rating from the Motion Picture Association of America, meaning some theaters might choose not to show it.

The MPAA gave the film an “R” rating for language and declined to change it when the Weinstein Co. appealed. That inspired teen activist Katy Butler to start an online petition seeking a lower rating so more young people could see the movie.…Read More