jonnymills This is a pretty shoddy outing from all concerned, and probably something that very few of the protagonists in front of and behind the camera will ever want to highlight on their CV. I would say it was a shockingly bad film but there's no shock. I've been lent the DVD by a friend and it's been sat next to the TV for a couple of years, so low were my expectations, but in the end one Saturday afternoon I managed to sit through it all, hence a slightly generous 4/10. It was less bad than I thought! All it is missing really is a storyline and a grain of originality, and it's about as "real" and "gritty" as a royal wedding, but if you're here for oiled male physiques, violence, MTV style sex and drugs (and I'm guessing you are) then it's going to fine. They must have snorted a trainload of coke while making it, but at least I can at last hand back the box to my friend and say "I have watched it".

p-stepien Fresh from prison Butch 'Bullet' Stein (Mickey Rourke), a Jewish ex-convict with sticky fingers and some nasty drug habits, moves back in with his parents and two brothers. His eldest brother Louis (Ted Levine) is a Vietnam war veteran with a severe case of post-traumatic stress, which keeps him locked up in his room-fortress and reliving his experiences. The youngest is Ruby (Adrien Brody), the artistic soul of the family, a talented street artist misunderstood by his parents, but loved and cherished by both his brothers. On release Butch however goes back to his old ways of stealing (from his neighbours or from drug dealers) and is quick to remind about his presence to former foes. Among them local drug lord Tank (Tupac Shakur)...Famed more for this being the last movie done by Tupac Shakury, than for its actual quality, "Bullet" is a movie overladen by this burden. Within the confines of a chaotic script lies an engaging story, but one that is dragged down by overly rash plotting and over-the-top characters, which threaten to turn the movie into a farce. Nonetheless the three lead roles are masterfully captioned by Rourke, Brody and Levine, each rather memorable with their strong respective presence. Especially the first is tour de force, showing off some of his intricate acting capabilities, which self-detonated during the nineties to throttle him to relative anonymity. Bullet is strong macho persona thrust in between worlds, but controlled by his crack lifestyle. At the same time after his time in prison he is unable to cope with his homosexual tendencies, released during his stay behind bars, whereas the movie suggests more than it explicitly states about his penitentiary experiences. These chaotic character traits deliver a crisp persona with which we are invited to venture into the life of Bullet and his surroundings.However thrust on top of the story are several themes, which cause it to lose focus. Especially the whole ordeal with Tank meanders through some poor plotting to come to an unsatisfying conclusion. Unfortunately for Shakur his final role wasn't exactly one worth being remembered by. The movie however in general jumps around, at times uncontrollably, as if unable to really envisage whether it has a message or is just another street crime story with no purpose.

Ben Outerbridge since i watched the wrestler i've been on a kick of renting mickey rourke movies and aside from the wrestler i'd say this is his best performance i've seen so far. he was just so good in this movie. he shows so much emotion and still pulls off the whole tuff guy bad ass thing. mickey rourke is effing cool man. the guy who plays bullet's older brother also really stands out to me. he definitely had crazy, paranoid war vet down. and bullet's best friend was funny as hell. what a joke.i heard mixed reviews about this movie so i decided to go in without expecting much and i was pleasantly surprised. i really enjoyed it. it's not a feel good movie. it has lots of funny bits (for those of us with a sick sense of humor) but at the same time it is quite serious and i think people can learn from it. it may sound cool to be hard and tuff but watch this movie. i think the main intention of the movie was to show kids what street life can do to people (which of course had been done before in other films but its still good).anyway... they say that this one of mickey rourke's few good moments in that point of his acting career and i would definitely encourage people to check it out.

ms_jade_li This film has a feel of a home movie mixed with real actors. It's hard to explain. Nothing is hollywoodized as far as being over the top, yet the characters are "professional" as in comfortable in front of the camera. They are almost stylized.Back to the realism. The family here is so real they feel like they could be neighbors. However there is an added component of the family being Jewish, and honestly, this is the first time I remember seeing a Jewish family being portrayed in middle-class, "street" style (if anyone has suggestions for other examples, email me).By the time it's over you feel like you know the characters, or that you've met people exactly like them if you've ever lived in a moderate to large sized city. Mickey Rourke as Bullet is great, as usual. It's almost as if this role were made for him. I see him as a tragic, heroic figure, fighting against the demon heroin. His kid brother is Adrien Brody, a talented artist and headed down the same path as his brother if he's not careful. There's the 3rd brother, played by Ted Levine, who isn't quite right after coming back from the war. You will feel affection for this man before the end credits. There's the mom and dad, who could be anyone's mom and dad (watch it and you'll see what I mean). A real standout in the film is Bullet's sidekick, John Enos III. In 1996 when this movie was made let's just say Enos was a perfect specimen of the male form. YUM. (Mickey was, likewise, in *excellent* shape!) Not only is Enos gorgeous, but he plays the faithful buddy who is also very wrapped up in his looks role well. Tupac, as Tank, the villain, isn't the greatest actor but he does OK. His clothes and his style are noteworthy. A couple of the gang members have screen presence, including Pudgy and Bullet's old pal who is now one of the white guy gang leaders.There's a day-to-day sort of realness in the plot. It shows probably a week in the life of the characters. Some disturbing images of abandoned buildings-turned-heroin houses (not sure if they are called that, but if you know what a crackhouse is like, it's the same thing but with heroin. who knows maybe heroin houses are the forerunners to crackhouses and I just don't know it.) Lots of sad junkies doing their various things (shooting up, giving blowjobs for drugs, buying, selling, ODing.) Weaknesses in the film have less to do with the plot and the actors as it does with what seems to be sh*tty editing. That's a shame too, as Bullet (1996) has many elements that could have turned it into a classic.I decided to watch Bullet for 2 reasons: 1) Mickey Rourke; and 2) it was going to be on HBO at a time when I was looking for a movie to watch. I was glad I watched it. I'll watch it again too. Give it a chance and see what you think of it.