2nd Chance Movie Review

“2nd Chance” is a look at a guy who shot himself 192 times. But he had a good reason, I guess. His purpose was to test out a very advanced bullet-proof vest. He created a company that became legendary for the way that it protected police officers and saved lives. But, there were some speed bumps on his journey. Many of them were self-inflicted. Just like the rounds that he aimed at his own chest…

Richard Davis was a small pizza parlor owner in Detroit. He had a military background, and he always supported law enforcement. One of his employees was robbed at gunpoint one night. He decided to create a self-constructed vest, with many layers of Kevlar. The next time there was a pizza delivery; Richard would take the pies himself. He also took a trusty side arm, just in case. He claims there was a shootout in the alleyway, and he took out many of bad guys.

Richard soon married his first wife Karen. He had been shot in that back alley, but he recovered enough to get hitched. There was a mysterious fire in the building that housed his pizza business. So, Richard took the opportunity to change to a new line of work. He took his simple design for a more professional bullet-proof vest. He turned that into his life’s work. He relocated his new company to Central Lake, Michigan. His company was called “2nd Chance”, and it revitalized the town.

His vests were sold to police departments all over the country. His best advertising was the lives of the police officers who had been saved wearing his vest. In fact, he got into the movie business. Richard would make short films about the circumstances of these officers. People would eat it up, and soon his business was booming. One of the men who was an officer later came to work for Richard. His name was Aaron Westrick.

Richard had a sprawling farm out in the countryside. Once a year, he would sponsor shooting contests on his ranch. These would become a problem for him one year. A woman who lived down the road claimed that she found a bullet in her kitchen, and it gave her a heart attack. Richard found out that young guy named Tim was caught by the police pulling a prank at his high school. He talked to Tim, and tried to convince him to tell the cops that he was behind the stray bullet.

Tim was very uncomfortable with this. He worked with the police to wear a wire when he was meeting with Richard. Nothing was ever proven, but Richard Davis was under the microscope. His insurance covered the medical expenses of his neighbor. He had to stop all of the yearly shooting contests and his company paid a really big fine. But nothing would deter Richard. He did call this incident his “Inglorious Misstep”.

Being a bit of a ladies man, he got interested in another woman. He and Karen divorced, and he married a lady named Kathleen. They eventually had a son named Matt. All the time, his business grew and the number of cops that had been saved with a “2nd Chance” vest also grew. In that small rural town in Michigan, Richard Davis was the King of Kevlar.

His company was a good place to work, and the products they created helped to save lives. Richard also had a huge Fourth of July fireworks display. Everyone in town loved to go see it. But then one year, the fireworks display went totally wrong, causing one death and multiple injuries. “2nd Chance” was in the news again, and not in a good way. But Richard blamed it on cheap fireworks from China. That still did not stop the lawsuits and the huge insurance payout.

Richard Davis found out about a new bullet resistant material called Zylon. His company switched to use Zylon in the vests to make them lighter. But in 2002, there were reports that the material would quickly degrade. All of the vests that had been sold became potential time bombs. Instead of working as intended, the fabric was found to lose the very quality that was needed. It could not longer stop bullets from penetrating.

The company board of directors had a secret memo that detailed the dilemma. Aaron Westrick found a copy of the memo and it shocked him. The company planned to continue using the material and not warning the people who were using the vests. Aaron was a trusted employee and good friend to Richard. But he was so disturbed that he agreed to wear a wire to a meeting with Richard. The prosecutors wanted evidence that Richard was behind it all.

Again, there were never any charges against Richard Davis for any of this. But his company was ruined. “2nd Chance” was down for the count and would never return. Aaron stayed distant from his former friend, But Richard could not be stopped. He started a new business along with his son Matt. They called it ‘Armor Express’, and it still going today…

“2nd Chance” is a very good documentary. It deals with a very real person in Richard Davis. He was as much of a shrewd businessman as he was a showman and blowhard. He came up with an idea that turned around the prospects of a struggling little town. He created something that was a marvelous tool for law enforcement. Many lives have been saved, and he is rightly proud about that.

But at the same time, he sometimes took major shortcuts and had ethical lapses. Not every thing he did turned out golden. He made as many enemies as he did friends. But Richard Davis did all of this in his bigger-than-life bombastic way. That is the thing that makes him a fascinating character.

“2nd Chance” is about a fellow who considers himself the highest ‘caliber’ and took an opportunity when he saw it. You might say, he gave it his best ‘shot’!