‘2nd Chance’ Film Review: Ramin Bahrani Searches for Regret or Reflection from a Bulletproof-Vest Entrepreneur

thewrap.com:

nd Chance” explores the mythos of a self-made tycoon allergic to accountability, but whose proud creation has undeniably saved numerous lives.This remarkably balanced non-fiction piece takes its multi-layered title from the name of the once prosperous company founded by Richard Davis, the infamous inventor of the modern bulletproof vest.

Bahrani, whose narrative work (“The White Tiger,” “99 Homes”) centers individuals on the overlooked margins of society, finds in Davis a subject worthy of ambivalent scrutiny through which the filmmaker can filter larger issues pertinent to several pathological American obsessions — success at all cost, rabid and unscrupulous capitalism, and the deadly power of guns.

Davis’ apocryphal legend of valiant feats begins with a 1975 tall tale of how he, a lowly pizzeria owner, defeated three armed bandits in an alleyway with the brawn of his weapon and his ability to discharge it effectively and accurately.

But the more the nimble Bahrani probes at the veracity of every word that comes out of the now-elderly Davis, or of his younger self in archival footage, the more foggy and difficult to substantiate his accounts become.Chronicling his business’ rise from grassroots marketing, traveling to police stations in the area to offer his oft-concealable body armor, to the fabricating the protective garment worn by former president George W.