Bulletproof (1996) * *

Directed by:  Ernest R. Dickerson

Starring:  Damon Wayans, Adam Sandler, James Caan, James Farentino, Kristen Wilson, Jeep Swenson, Allen Covert

There is nothing wrong with buddy comedies.  Bulletproof is a tired one which started with a unique perspective and then devolved into cliches and chases.   Keats (Wayans) and Moses (Sandler) are two low-level criminals who form a years-long friendship which is torn apart when Keats is revealed to be an undercover detective during a bust.  Keats was using Moses to get in with crime boss Frank Colton (Caan), and now that Moses vouched for Keats, Moses is a hunted man.  Moses is hurt by this betrayal more than he is concerned that Colton wants him dead.   In the melee, Moses accidentally shoots Keats in the head and goes on the lam. 

Some time passes, Keats is able to recuperate and regain use of his faculties, plus has a new girlfriend Traci (Wilson), the nurse who assisted him in his recovery.   Moses is apprehended and becomes a witness against Colton,  Keats is assigned to protect Moses as a witness until the trial.  There are hard feelings from both men,   Moses still stings from Keats' revelation and Keats still can't get over being nearly killed, even if it was accidental.   The opening moments shows a deep friendship supposedly formed between Keats and Moses.  I was reminded of the more powerful scenes of 2016's The Infiltrator, in which the drug lord an undercover FBI agent had to bring down was emotionally injured by the man he thought was his friend and let into his world.   

However, Bulletproof strays from this early and becomes an awkward road buddy movie.  Keats and Moses bicker and gripe at each other before mending fences and taking down Colton.  Sandler brings the energy which defined his comic persona in the films following this one, which generated big box office.   Wayans does the straight man thing as well as can be expected.   However, Bulletproof as a whole doesn't add anything new or fresh to the genre.  Keats and Moses fight, then hold a begrudging truce, then develop a bond, then become friends with a goal of bringing down the villain.   It's all just blah.