I took my Mum to see this when it came out in 97. A male usher came walking over to me, and said "I don't mean to pry but why you going to see this". "It's like a private screening". One of my answers was "I like Mickey Rourke". This one that only ran a week at two Wallis Cinemas, was actually Mickey's comeback to cinema after White Sands, five years prior. Here, this film proves time and time again, why Mickey Rourke is one of the all time acting greats. You might think, oh, not another drug movie, which really it isn't. Bullet's different, as to the interesting and funny characters is Rourke's family. Rourke's just got out of prison, with his pet rat, after an 8 year stint, the rewards you reap, all for keeping your mouth shut. Already to start business again, his father starting on him at the dinner table, we see the hopelessness of this family. Rourke's character, Butch, nickname Bullet was once a prize fighter, who sports a number of trophies in his room. His younger brother (Adrien Brody) who idolizes him, is a gifted artist, friends with Rourke's best friend, Lester who drives a pink Cadillac, (this actor played the pimp in Phone Booth). Now we get to the real character of the family, the much older brother Lewis (great character Ted Levine) classic who's room like Lebanon, a war nut, a psychiatric case, who keeps two pit bulls in his room, and hardly washes his underwear. He likes stuffing cake into his mouth for dinner too, but also he's of course into guns. In one scene this grown man harps onto his mom, nagging him to buy him this new gun. When she's not really agreeing to his request, he resorts to crazy talk. Truly a funny scene. Lewis also teaches army survival skills to kids, standing on top of a mound in the district. Totally a zealous gun and army nut. It makes me laugh recalling these scenes. Another scene, while he's out at night, walking his dogs, he really gives it to these two cops, patrolling the area who have it for Bullet's family. All the while, Bullet and Lester are only a few short hundred meters, upstairs, doing over the neighbors place. Bullet is funny, sad, tragic, but different. If you watch Tupac Shakur in anything, make it this. He plays Bullet's enemy and bad guy Tank, in an impressive piece of acting, almost stealing Rourke of this movie, or surpassing his performance. Though the ending is tragic, it's act of retribution, finishes this movie perfectly. A good satisfier but very funny too, fans of drug movies will get a kick out of this one, I've viewed a few times. A little shock violence, here and there, one scene, a bloodied victim of Lewis's big army knife.
Review of Bullet
