Big Bully MPAA Rating: PG Entertainment: +2 Content: -1 1/2

Young Roscoe Bigger delights in picking on meek, frail David Leary at Hastings Middle School in Minnesota. But David devises a scheme to get Roscoe sent to reform school, and David and his family move on to California. David grows up to be a successful author and eventually returns to his old middle school to teach creative writing. To his surprise and dismay, he runs into his old bully buddy, Roscoe, who now teaches in the wood working shop. Roscoe again takes after David with a vengeance, but David fights back with all his might. All this leads to lots of comical, but frequently vicious, confrontations between David (Rick Moranis) and Roscoe (Tom Arnold). BIG BULLY is billed as a comedy, but it turns into a rather dark psychodrama as Roscoe tries to take his revenge on David. It does have some laughs along the way, but it's just too intense to be very much fun.

Oddly enough, Ben and Kirby, who are the young sons of David and Roscoe, respectively, get to be good friends even though Ben at first bullies Kirby. It is their friendship which offers the only hope for David and Roscoe to be reconciled. This is the most redeeming value in the film and softens the film's belligerent confrontations. David is divorced, but is a loving, caring father to a bitter, rebellious Ben. Even though Roscoe is a tough taskmaster in his family, he is kind and considerate to the sensitive, gentle Kirby. Unfortunately, though, the dialogue contains a number of crude words, and the young boys themselves speak several obscenities. They also make a few crude suggestive remarks about girls and sex. So, Hollywood has added enough offensive elements to this PG film to put it off limits for good family viewing.

Preview Reviewer: John Evans
Distributor: Warner Brothers, 4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA 91522