''Bulletproof'' is a 1996 American

buddy cop Buddy cop is a film and television genre with plots involving two people of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process. ...

action comedy film Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of acti ...

directed by

Ernest Dickerson Ernest Roscoe Dickerson (born June 25, 1951) is an American director, cinematographer, and screenwriter of film, television, and music videos. As a cinematographer, he is known for his frequent collaborations with Spike Lee ever since they were c ...

and starring

Damon Wayans Damon Kyle Wayans Sr. (; born September 4, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. Wayans performed as a comedian and actor throughout the 1980s, including a year long stint on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live.' ...

and Adam Sandler. Released theatrically in the United States by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

on September 6, 1996, ''Bulletproof'' was panned by critics and grossed $22.6 million worldwide.

Plot

Archie Moses is a small-time thief in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

who smuggles drugs for drug lord Frank Colton, who launders his drug money through a car dealership. Moses is unaware that his best friend, Rock Keats, is actually LAPD undercover cop Jack Carter, who befriended him to infiltrate Colton's gang. Carter has Moses include him in Colton's next drug shipment, secretly planning to arrest Colton and take in Moses, whom he has come to care about, unharmed. Carter's undercover status is revealed before he can enact his plan, however, and a hurt Moses pulls a gun on him. During the raid on Colton's warehouse, an out of control crane hits Moses in the back, causing him to accidentally shoot Carter in the head. He then flees the state, and is subsequently found and arrested. Carter miraculously survives and makes a full recovery with the aid of his physical therapist, Dr. Traci Flynn, with whom he falls in love. Moses is brought into custody, and he agrees to testify against Colton, but the trial is set to take place at the other side of the country. Carter's superior officer, Capt. Jensen, orders him to personally transfer Moses to the courtroom. Carter harbors resentment against Moses, and tensions escalate once the simple transfer goes awry. Colton learns through bribed federal agents and LAPD officers of Moses' attempt to testify against him. As they flee from Colton's men, Carter and Moses slowly mend their friendship, and are successful in returning to Carter's precinct. However, Colton apparently holds Flynn hostage, and blackmails Carter into turning Moses over to save Flynn. Carter and Moses pretend to comply with Colton, and shoot their way through Colton's guards. It is later revealed that Flynn is on Colton's payroll, and is responsible for leaking Carter's and Moses' whereabouts to him. Moses takes a bullet in the shoulder to save Carter's life, giving him time enough to arrest Flynn, then shoots Colton dead. Moses gives the incriminating documents on Colton to Carter, who allows him to escape. He heads to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to become a bullfighter, with Carter and Moses' mother later accompanying him.

Cast

* Adam Sandler as Archie Moses *

as Detective Jack Carter / Rock Keats *

James Caan James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Suppo ...

as Frank Colton * Jeep Swenson as Bledsoe *

James Farentino James Farentino (February 24, 1938 – January 24, 2012) was an American actor. He appeared in nearly 100 television, film, and stage roles, among them '' The Final Countdown'', ''Jesus of Nazareth'', and '' Dynasty''. Career Born in Brooklyn, N ...

as Captain Will Jensen *

Kristen Wilson Kristen Wilson (born September 4, 1969) is a former American actress, best known as Miranda DuBaer in '' Twitches'' and '' Twitches Too'' and as Lisa Dolittle in the films ''Dr. Dolittle'', '' Dr. Dolittle 2'', and '' Dr. Dolittle 3''. Early li ...

as Dr. Traci Flynn * Larry McCoy as Detective Sulliman *

Allen Covert Allen Stephen Covert (born October 12, 1964) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for his starring role in the 2006 comedy film '' Grandma's Boy'', and his supporting actor role in the movie '' Strange Wilderne ...

as Detective Jones *

Bill Nunn William Goldwyn Nunn III (October 20, 1953 – September 24, 2016) was an American actor known for his roles as Radio Raheem in Spike Lee's film '' Do the Right Thing'', Robbie Robertson in the Sam Raimi ''Spider-Man'' film trilogy and as T ...

as DEA Agent Finch * Mark Roberts as Charles *

Xander Berkeley Alexander Harper Berkeley (born December 16, 1955) is an American actor and voice actor. Since beginning his career in the early 1980s, he has appeared in over 200 film and television projects. His film roles include '' Terminator 2: Judgment Da ...

as FBI Agent Darryl Gentry * Mark Castella as Disneyland cop * Andrew Shaifer as Cop at airport *

Monica Potter Monica Gregg Potter (née Brokaw; born June 30, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles in the films ''Con Air'' (1997), ''Patch Adams'' (1998), and '' Along Came a Spider'' (2001). She also appeared in the horror films ...

as Biker's woman *

Jonathan Loughran Jonathan Loughran is an American actor who is in most Happy Madison films with his friend and actor Adam Sandler. He is Sandler's longtime friend and assistant, who has at least 40 credits with Sandler to his name. Filmography * ''Sexbomb'' ( ...

as Rookie cop * Steve White as Veteran cop

Production

Reflecting on the film years later, director Ernest Dickerson spoke to

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

of his regretful experiences making the film:

Soundtrack

A soundtrack containing mostly hip hop and R&B music was released on September 3, 1996, by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

. It reached No. 85 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and #23 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated ...

. In addition,

Varese Sarabande Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label=Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the ca ...

released an album of Elmer Bernstein's score.

Reception

Box office

''Bulletproof'' grossed $6 million its opening weekend, placing it at No. 1 at the box office. By the end of its theatrical run, it pulled in $21.6 million in North America and $1 million internationally for a worldwide total of $22.6 million.

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 8% based on 38 reviews and an average rating of 3.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "In addition to its ability to deflect gunfire, ''Bulletproof'' proves sadly impervious to humor, logic, or worthwhile viewing." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film received a score of 30 based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Sequel

A direct to video sequel ''Bulletproof 2'' was released on January 7, 2020, directed by

Don Michael Paul Donald Michael Paul (born April 17, 1963) is an actor, director, writer, and producer. Biography He starred in the films '' Heart of Dixie'' and '' Rich Girl'' with Jill Schoelen and appeared in ''Aloha Summer''. He wrote the screenplay for ' ...

and stars

Faizon Love Faizon Andre Love (born Langston Faizon Santisima; June 14, 1968) is a Cuban-born American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles in the comedy films '' The Meteor Man'', ''Don't Be a Menace'', ''Friday'', '' B*A*P*S'', '' Elf'', '' ...

and

Kirk Fox Kirk Fox (born August 26, 1969) is an American actor, screenwriter, and stand-up comedian. Career Television Fox played Sewage Joe on ''Parks and Recreation'' and was a regular on Nickelodeon's '' How to Rock'' as Mr. March. Other credits incl ...

as Jack Carter and Archie Moses replacing both Wayans and Sandler.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulletproof (1996 Film) 1996 films 1990s crime comedy films 1990s road movies American action comedy films American buddy action films American buddy comedy films American buddy cop films American crime comedy films American detective films American comedy road movies Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films about drugs Films directed by Ernest Dickerson Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in California 1990s hip hop films American police detective films Universal Pictures films 1990s police comedy films 1990s buddy comedy films 1990s buddy cop films 1996 action comedy films 1996 comedy films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films