Bulletproof

Directed by Ernest R. Dickerson, Bulletproof details the fallout that ensues after lowlife criminal Archie Moses (Adam Sandler) discovers that his best friend (Damon Wayans’ Rock Keats) is actually an undercover police officer – with the film subsequently following Rock as he attempts to keep Archie safe from central villain Frank Colton’s (James Caan) various goons. There’s little doubt that Bulletproof fares best in its opening half hour, as the strong chemistry between Sandler and Wayans’ respective characters effectively lays the groundwork for what initially appears to be a conventional yet entertaining buddy film. It’s only as Archie learns of Rock’s true identity that the movie morphs into an increasingly tedious piece of work, with the characters’ relentless bickering merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the film’s various problems – as scripters Joe Gayton and Lewis Colick have flooded the midsection with one questionable sequence after another (eg Archie and Rock’s encounter with an unreasonably quirky motel owner.) And although the movie does recover for an admittedly exciting climactic shootout, Bulletproof is, for the most part, a forgettable actioner that consistently wastes the talents of its two stars.

** out of ****