I think that this ending was chilling. Its like as one evil is dying, another evil is just beginning. I feel this ending fit the movie and the other movie fit with the book.
In the movie, Todd basically gets off scott free with murder and blackmail but who knows what dark road he will continue down if he doesn't change. The movie ending makes a sequel possible. In the novel, he gets killed along with the old Nazi.
It's a warning about victim culture, sociology, and grievance studies. All interpretive, soft science. Like psychology. Easily exploited and weaponized.
Brad's friend revealed that he confided in her that this movie held bad memories for him because of the Bryan singer. poor boy he must have been abused behind the scenes
Funny, conservatives always love to portray gays and trans as some kind of predators, that always have been the narrative since the 50', I really not care if Singer allegations are true or not, but is very convenient to accuse a gay man to abuse boys, even now that we are in 2022, like the old phrase says: "When you live in privilege, equality sounds like oppression."
Unfortunately, this clip misses the best moment, Todd's eyes when French says "I can't do that". Renfro communicates so much at that moment with just his eyes, going from wounded boy to a sudden killer's stare locking on to French. Even better is that the director makes an audio transition before the next cut to where the high pitched EKG alarm rings in like the sudden tinnitus of panic. This scene, like many in the film, communicates so much with body language, expression and gesture. Theres a moment where French's eyes drift below waist level when there is no reason they should that actually suggests just a little doubt that perhaps Todd's implication may actually be true, removing certainty that French is some hero, exchanging the assumed dynamic of good and evil to a more complicated one of two evils in rivalry. There is also the juxtaposition of the basketball, the same object Todd sadistically yet thoughtlessly uses to kill the pigeon coming back into that soulless, primal rhythm as he begins a perfect dribble approaching French. The shots of Schwimmer remain at eye level, while the shots of Todd are shot from below, conveying the coming strike of a predator. Then of course the obvious; Dussander's checking out of the mortal realm exactly as evil finds a new home among the living in Todd the moment he 'makes the deal.' Just amazing work by everyone; the actors, the sound, the director and the tight editing.
+Girish Gowda he took a sniper's perch near a major highway and it took the police 5 hours to kill him. Essentially Todd Bowden and killed a lot of people
I literally finished book ( second story in different seasons today and indeed went on a 5 hour killing spree with 400 rounds. Y I'm here to see how movie would do it
If they had stuck closer to the original book, I wonder what Apt Pupil's reputation would be like today, given what happened the year after this movie came out at Columbine...
Brad's so freaking handsome! I just hate that he had to pass away so soon :( He was truly one of the best actors out there and it's a shame he had to end his life that way....
Poor kid never had a chance, he was practically abandoned by his parents at his grandmother's house. The lady wasn't able to parent him so he practically raised himself. By his own account he was doing pot by 9, alcohol by 11 and heroin by 13. Hollywood only hastened his demise.
The thing about Ian Mckellan and David Schwimmer is that they met long before this movie.According to Wikipedia,David met Ian back when he owned a Shakespeare shop,and accordingly,he was moved by the experience.I have no idea what that meant,but I guess that Ian was like the Master Yoda to David's Luke Skywalker,as in he inspired him to become an actor somehow.That means that without Ian,we wouldn't have David being our favorite Ross,so in a way,it's like Ian is his 'father',if you get what I mean!
I've always thought that Todd is actually right here when suggests that French desires (and tried to seduce) him. I know David Schwimmer was criticized for his performance since he was in the peak of his popularity as Ross, but his fear because of Todd's words is pretty convincing and very well done.
Interestingly different from how to book version ends. In the book Todd murders French with a hunting rifle and then packs a large amount of ammunition for it in a backpack and heads to a place overlooking a nearby freeway with the intent to snipe as many people as he can before he himself is killed. In the book Todd feels the walls closing in around him, and Ed French's testimony would be the last piece of the puzzle that will do him in and this is what causes him to snap. The movie ending is more open-ended and more chilling. Todd, thoroughly corrupted and evil, will go on to perpetrate untold horrors in his own adulthood.
@@misterj9619 Some movies are better adaptations and more true to the book than others. I've seen adaptations that are so bad or different that its almost like a completely different story.
The ending to the film looks so unfinished and dumb. The book ending is so much more fitting. "'I'm king of the world!' He shouted mightily at the high blue sky" after shooting Rubber Ed several times, during his shooting spree and before he was taken down by cops five hours later.
He wasn't so much evil in Bully, as a kid who was tormented by his "best friend" so much that he and others who were treated the same decided he didn't belong on this earth, maybe that's evil to some, or maybe they thought they were ridding the world of an evil
My only objection is that they should've set this in the seventies and maybe ended it in the early 1980s which would've made it both contemporary with the novella, and also more realistic in terms of the age of a Nazi war criminal.
This movie was a very watered down adaption of the novella which was much more disturbing and terrifying. I’m not sure I understand the point of making this into a movie so completely different from King’s chilling story.
I’m trying to find a movie. I only remember a scene it goes like. There’s a man standing in a hall and at the other end of the hall is an old woman in a wheelchair. The lights light up as she slowly comes forward towards him. He makes it in to an elevator, the light goes out and when it comes back that old woman is in there with him. If that scene sounds familiar I’d like to know the title of the movie
Yes,I agree.The book is darker and better but the two actors in this movie are brilliant.I wonder how the life of the boy is going to be after all he has done.He is smart and corrupt and he knows he is able to kill and to surive.He could become someone like Kevin Spaceys character Frank Underwood in"house of cards"
I hate it that Ian Mcellen played a bad guy sure he has done that before but I’m just so used to Gandalf that it hurts me whenever I see him as a bad guy
I must admit that the only film I saw of Brad Renfro was "Apt Pupil". I was struck with wonder that some one so young could possess the talent of a veteran. He was a very good looking lad; a face that was made just for the movies. Sadly, he ended his life on skid row. I do believe that he was in another film titled "Telling lies in America' which co-starred Calista Flockhart [that Ally McBeal girl]. Detained for suspicion of possession of marijuna and cocaine, Brad struck a plea with the fuzz agreeing to be randomly tested for substance abuse for six months; if he remained clear, charges would not be pursued. He was later hauled up by the cops for attempted robbery of a yacht with friend in tow in 2000. His foray into films didn't actually take off the ground, but the few that he made singled him out for superb performance(s). He died in 2008 from substance abuse.
This ending is a disappointment because it has no payoff. Todd is a sick, unsympathetic sociopath and you don’t want to see him get away with his actions. You want to see him have his life and reputation be ruined. And instead of him being found out and getting any sort of comeuppance, the movie ends with him getting off scot-free. I can understand that Bryan Singer and the film’s crew didn’t want to do the book’s killing spree ending probably because it was too controversial, but they still should’ve had Todd be punished in some way. In King’s book, Todd dies. He clearly didn’t want Todd getting away with it. In this movie, he should’ve been found out by the police and sent to jail. The movie could’ve had an ending where neither Todd or Dussander won and that would’ve been great. An ending where nobody wins. Having the movie end with Todd getting away with his transgressions is a cop-out. It’s not earned and hurts the movie.
I disagree. A more open-ended finale is more chilling. There is no clear cut ending. Todd is corrupted and evil, and we can only imagine what evil he will inflict on others in the future.
@@misterj9619 I already did. If you like the ending of that movie, you simply just have bad taste. The original was twisted, but this was just a kid shooting hoops while David Schwimmer sat there with a look on his face like he just caught Joey making out with Rachel. It was garbage. Bye now
