All American Bully - Review

"All American Bully" is a film about a young man named Devon who is being bullied by his older classmate and former best friend John. The bullying eventually escalates into Devon being forced to make some false statements on video which is then posted and shared all over social media. It's at this point that his friend and secret admirer Becky steps in to help Devon by seeking revenge against John the only way she knows how, by beating him at his own game. Unfortunately for Devon and Becky they have no idea that their plot for revenge will set into motion a series of events that none of them could have ever predicted.

"All American Bully" is a movie that surprised me. I went in expecting one thing and came out completely surprised with what I had just seen. For the first two-thirds of the film everything is setup exactly as I had expected. It's kind of like one of those ABC After School Specials only with a harder edge. We have a teenage protagonist who is in some trouble and doesn't know what he's going to do to fix it. By the one hour mark I was positive I knew exactly what was going to happen and I was completely wrong. It's the breaking of that expectation that I really enjoyed about the movie. Without giving away too much it's as if the ABC After School Special were blended with a dash of Last House on the Left. I'll just leave it at that.

As far as the other elements of the film I felt everything came together pretty well. Overall the acting is good throughout with an interesting cameo from Adrienne King as the school principal and I particularly liked the main group of protagonists (Alexander Fraser, Alicia Rose & Darren Hicks). The film also looks good and never allows its lower budget to hinder its production value. Overall I can easily recommend giving "All American Bully" a chance. It's a film that takes its time to reveal all of its surprises which is something I can always appreciate, especially when those surprises really pack a punch.

Score: 3.5/5