What could have been a really good film was hampered by some heavy handed direction. American Bully tells the tale of four teens, one of them a most charismatic individual leads the other three into a crime of unspeakable horror. Matt O'Leary who has a brother in Iraq and is getting ready to enlist himself gets suspended from school for showing a beheading video from the wars on terror. He thinks that Jonathan Halayalkar ratted him out and Jonathan is darker complexioned. Ergo he has to be one of those Moslem terrorists. In fact he's a Sikh, but what does O'Leary know from Sikhs? Nor do his friends Marshall Allman, Sam Murphy, and Ross Britz.
In fact what do Americans for the most part know from these other cultures? We are a most ignorant people if we were not politicians would not have such an easy time talking us into wars.
In this situation Moslem terrorists don't do themselves any good either. Since the Seventies they've done all kinds of unspeakable acts starting with the massacre of those Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Not hard to hate these people as young O'Leary and his friends do.
But in point of fact they're punks and nothing justifies what they did. And that they chose a Sikh because they don't know the difference, chalk one up for ignorance.
American Bully covers a wide range of troubling issues, hate crimes, bullying, and ignorance and maybe another viewer can add a few more. These issues deserve a better film.
In fact what do Americans for the most part know from these other cultures? We are a most ignorant people if we were not politicians would not have such an easy time talking us into wars.
In this situation Moslem terrorists don't do themselves any good either. Since the Seventies they've done all kinds of unspeakable acts starting with the massacre of those Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Not hard to hate these people as young O'Leary and his friends do.
But in point of fact they're punks and nothing justifies what they did. And that they chose a Sikh because they don't know the difference, chalk one up for ignorance.
American Bully covers a wide range of troubling issues, hate crimes, bullying, and ignorance and maybe another viewer can add a few more. These issues deserve a better film.