Big Bully

1996 "A comedy for the kid in all of us."
4.8| 1h30m| PG| en
Details

A writer returns to his hometown where he faces the childhood nemesis whose life he ultimately ruined, only the bully wants to relive their painful past by torturing him once again.

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Reviews

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.
FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
powermandan At the time, Big Bully was a critical and commercial failure. The 4.5/10 on this site even proves how unlike this is. But after rewatching it in a time that has changed a lot since then, it is safe to say that Big Bully is really not a bad film.Rick Moranis decided to take a vacation from acting in 1997 to spend time with his family. The vacation turned permanent when he realized he didn't miss it. So seeing him in one of his very last films is a treat. It is also good seeing the likes of Don Knotts, Carol Kane, Tom Arnold, and Jeffrey Tambor. David Leary (Rick Moranis) was a geeky kid who had weird friends, making him the perfect target for bully Rosco "Fang" (Tom Arnold). Rosco picked on David mercilessly up until middle school. Rosco stole a "moon rock" from a traveling science exhibition and David turned him in when he found out he was moving to Oakland. It was the happiest day of David's life: he gets even with Rosco when he gets sent to reform school and he escapes his clutches once and for all. Fast- forward about 25 years later. Rosco is a passive middle school tech teacher living with his trashy family. David is a single parent who hasn't found much commercial success with his acclaimed books. He accepts a creative writing teaching position at his old school. After seeing his son bully a geeky kid, David realizes that the geek's father is Rosco. When Rosco also discovers that David is back, Rosco gets carried away with reenacting pranks from when they were kids. Their immaturity grows and things get out of hand, leading to David getting suspended. After David confesses to Rosco that he turned him in for stealing the rock, Rosco's recent string of hazings turn more serious. I know that this may be a bit of a long summary, but that's because almost each and every component that makes up this film is nice. Its not great, but certainly not bad. The jokes aren't stupid, just not laughable. In comparison with other recent comedies, this IS great and IS hilarious. But at the heart of the film are two dudes that have unfinished business. I would say that the only major flaw that this movie has is when David and Rosco finally make up. Other than that, I found just about every scene to be believable and the development and chemistry between the two leads to be fine. I think that remaking this would be good.
Matthew McNaughton If I wanted to want grown men fight like school children, society would deem that there is something wrong with me. And yet, somehow this movie was made. I have nothing against the two lead actors, but they suck something awful in this suckfest of a film. Terrible plot, terrible dialogue, and just an all-around depressing atmosphere.I can't delve into too many details lest I spoil this "film" but at one point David orders a beer at a bar and there's a record scratch, and everybody shuts up and looks at him. One guy even hits a pool ball off the table. That's pretty much how I feel about the movie. The pool ball is the point, and the movie is the pocket. This movie is about as table scratched as one could be.
soranno Rick Moranis used to be a popular star but it was probably with this film that he suddenly wandered into "where is he now" status. Tom Arnold is his costar in this part one of his horrible starring vehicles trilogy (which would later consist of "Carpool" and "The Stupids"). The really silly and not as funny as it might sound plot has to do with grown man Moranis moving back to his old hometown and still being intimidated by his old grade school nemesis (Arnold). Seeing these two grown men act like children throughout the film is more stupid than funny and what could have been an interesting premise if there was more comedic power in the script sudddenly turns into a huge mess.
chiefbrody2001 It totally baffles me how anyone can give this film 5/10, let alone 10/10. It doesn't deserve 1. What films have some people being watching? Rick Moranis and Tom Arnold should, and are obviously ashamed of being in this horrible movie, that some one mentioned, 'goes nowhere'. Tom Arnold is awful throughout, and clearly has trouble with some of the bad dialogue he gets. It is less his fault more of a fault of director Steve Miner who has done a lot, lot better films in his time. Rick Moranis is bland, and totally unfunny. In fact, was there a funny line in the entire film. The times I chuckled were the badly scripted bits, or how badly a scene was put together, or how awkward Arnold was looking. Okay, okay, some would say this is a children's film but it's message is totally confused. Bully reconciles with the bullied - well, I doubt most kids would ever want to see those that bullied them again, let alone get re-bullied by them in adulthood. The film would simply depress kids. Overall, an awful movie. Bad script, bad direction and bad acting. Suffice to say, I give this 1/10.