Butch "Bullet" Stein, a junkie from the Brooklyn, is paroled after eight years in prison.
Butch rips off a runner for local drug dealer, Tank, and is soon right back into his old habit of snorting coke and shooting up heroin with his best friend Lester.
Enraged by Butch's affront and already determined to get revenge on him for a past wrong, Tank sets about getting even with his old enemy by hiring a hulking brute, Gates, to beat Butch.
When the confrontation occurs, however, Gates breaks his hand on the battle-hardened Butch.
Besides Lester, the only people in Butch's corner are his two brothers, the mentally-unhinged Vietnam War veteran Louis and aspiring artist Ruby, neither of whom can be counted on to help him in the inevitable showdown.......
Co-written by Rourke, Bullet is trying to be some sort of noir homage, a well worn road of a film, where the main character is trying to go straight, but once he gets out, he soon gets back into his old ways, and the choice of going straight is no longer an option for him.
Rourke is pretty good in the title role, but the writing is below par, so the majority of the film is just him being high on drugs, and him having conversations with his friends/family in an almost Tarantino-eque way.
And after a while, the film becomes more of a chore to watch, rather than being entertaining. Shakur is stunt casting here, playing a role that he has played so many times before, which is a shame, because in his short acting career, he showed us that he had a lot of range, he was actually a good actor, and he's here just to put bums on seats.
Other cliches include Bullets dad trying to get him a job, his mother crying over her failure as a mother, his siblings having bizarre traits, ones an artist, the other a mentally broken soldier, who is unpredictable and makes the viewer wonder why his character is included, but then the rationale is there come the end.
It's never boring, but it never really goes anywhere, it's a tried and tested formula, and it's been done dozens of times, and a lot better too.
Still Levine is very good in his wasted role, even though he is woefully miscast.
Butch rips off a runner for local drug dealer, Tank, and is soon right back into his old habit of snorting coke and shooting up heroin with his best friend Lester.
Enraged by Butch's affront and already determined to get revenge on him for a past wrong, Tank sets about getting even with his old enemy by hiring a hulking brute, Gates, to beat Butch.
When the confrontation occurs, however, Gates breaks his hand on the battle-hardened Butch.
Besides Lester, the only people in Butch's corner are his two brothers, the mentally-unhinged Vietnam War veteran Louis and aspiring artist Ruby, neither of whom can be counted on to help him in the inevitable showdown.......
Co-written by Rourke, Bullet is trying to be some sort of noir homage, a well worn road of a film, where the main character is trying to go straight, but once he gets out, he soon gets back into his old ways, and the choice of going straight is no longer an option for him.
Rourke is pretty good in the title role, but the writing is below par, so the majority of the film is just him being high on drugs, and him having conversations with his friends/family in an almost Tarantino-eque way.
And after a while, the film becomes more of a chore to watch, rather than being entertaining. Shakur is stunt casting here, playing a role that he has played so many times before, which is a shame, because in his short acting career, he showed us that he had a lot of range, he was actually a good actor, and he's here just to put bums on seats.
Other cliches include Bullets dad trying to get him a job, his mother crying over her failure as a mother, his siblings having bizarre traits, ones an artist, the other a mentally broken soldier, who is unpredictable and makes the viewer wonder why his character is included, but then the rationale is there come the end.
It's never boring, but it never really goes anywhere, it's a tried and tested formula, and it's been done dozens of times, and a lot better too.
Still Levine is very good in his wasted role, even though he is woefully miscast.