16 Quadras

This movie was an excellent surprise. It starts slow, but stay with it. Your first look at Bruce Willis as the burnt-out over the hill cop tells you this will not be the normal shoot-em-up cop drama. The plot starts building almost instantly, unlike many movies where you have to wait through thirty minutes of fluff before the story goes anywhere. The characters in the movie are surprisingly endearing, honest and genuine. They're just normal enough to identify with. Not the standard super evil villain and valiant good guy. Bruce Willis is awesome in his role as the tired underdog struggling with the morality of torn loyalty. Mos Def, whose character's voice was a little aggravating, played an excellent supporting role. The relationship he develops with Willis'character is both surprising and humorous. Overall, the movie was tense from the start and is filled with suspense, humor and a great deal of drama. It takes some unexpected turns and has a great ending. I highly recommend it.

I almost gave up on this movie after about 15 minutes because of the annoyance of Mos Def's voice. What was up with that!? By the end this became an okay crime drama as Bruce Willis plays a burnt out (alcoholic) NYPD detective escorting a small-time crook the (16 blocks) to a grand-jury session.

Willis is impressive with his burnt-out-edness. His character does not resemble any kind of action hero here; unfit, overweight, unattractive, shuffling, gasping for a drink. Well done. And while I like David Morse his character was a bit over-the-top. I mean, I get that they're crooked cops but really, shooting wildly into a crowded NY street and a bus full of civilians. Did the bad cops think they were completely above the law or any repercussions? That they could just do whatever they wanted without consequence? Reminded me a bit of that opening scene with Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L Jackson from "The Other Guys" except that was a comedy. I will say that this grew on me by the end though. 06.13

Det. Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) is an old tired apathetic drunk. It's been a long night shift, and he's about to go home. He's roped in to bring witness Eddie (Mos Def) from jail to the courthouse to testify. It's a distance of 16 blocks. Then people start trying to kill Eddie including Jack's former partner Det. Frank Nugent (David Morse).

This is a surprisingly tense thriller from director Richard Donner. Bruce is playing an older drunk John McClane. Mos Def is pretty fun as jittery talking machine. David Morse has great intensity. The cat and mouse game is very compelling. And the chemistry between Jack and Eddie develops very nicely. This is a great tense thriller. The ending is a bit unnecessarily messy. A simpler finish would be much better.

This is not a remake of "The Gauntlet," though the theme is a familiar one. There are, in fact, several movies with similar plots; "3:10 to Yuma" and "Narrow Margin" come to mind. A reviewer emailed me that "Midnight Run" not only has a story like "16 Blocks" but Bruce Willis' character Jack Mosley has a name that is a composite of the movie names for two of the leading roles in "Midnight Run": Robert De Niro's Jack Walsh and Yaphet Kotto's FBI Agent Alonzo Mosely. This, of course, may be mere coincidence. Though the story may seem like déjà vu, the action is fast paced making this an exciting film to watch.

Anyone who doubts that Bruce Willis can act needs only watch his standout performance in "Pulp Fiction" to see what depth this actor can bring to a demanding role. The role of Jack Mosely may not be challenging to Willis, but he still gives it all he's got which is plenty. Playing the part of an over the hill New York cop with a game leg, nothing to live for, and a drinking problem seems easy for Willis to make it all believable.

The criminal, Eddie Bunker, Jack must deliver to testify within a certain time frame is played with gusto by hip-hop artist Mos Def. Eddie is the most verbose prisoner ever. He rattles on and on about anything that comes to mind, some of it funny, some of it trite. He also has a riddle that is not answered till near the end of the film.

A standout performance is delivered by David Morse as the leader of the dirty cops, Frank Nugent. Morse is in danger of becoming typecast as a dishonest lawman. I'm hopeful he will become more diversified in his roles since he is such a talented actor.

This is another winner from action director Richard Donner. If you like his other successful concoctions such as the "Lethal Weapon" flicks, "Superman," "Conspiracy Theory," and "The Omen," then you will certainly enjoy "16 Blocks."

The film concerns an experienced but tiring cop named Jack (Bruce Willis) about his retirement . The aging detective is assigned the last mission , transporting sixteen blocks away a foul-mouthed delinquent , from the precinct until the court . He is aware that the African-American young named Eddie Buken (Mos Def) is allegedly to testify against NYPD agents . He made a covenant with the D.A. office for identifying corrupt detectives at courthouse . Meantime , along the way , they're attacked by vicious gunfighters and pursued by all N.Y.C policemen and they find themselves under siege into a bus and surrounded by the SWAT . Then , they team up to flee , trying to get out towards the trial building .

The movie displays suspense , action ,thriller and is very entertaining . The film's writer, Richard Wenk, has reported that he originally conceived of the project with himself as writer and director and, before shopping it around to anyone else, first approached Richard Donner because they had a struck up a good relationship when Donner really liked his rewrite of a script for Lethal weapon 4 (1998) , even though that script was not used . It's a special buddy movie between a dreary , boozy cop magnificently played by Bruce Willis and a fast-talking prisoner well acted by Mos Def , detaching an agreeable chemistry . Although the film is principally interpreted by two main actors also contains exceptional performances by its entire secondary cast , especially by David Morse and Jenna Stern . Living musical score adjusted appropriately to the action by Klaus Badelt and adequate cinematography by Glen McPherson . The movie produced by Milennium (Trevor Short ,Boaz Davidson , Danny Lerner) usually producers of low-medium budget but here was lavishly filmed . The motion picture was professionally directed by the veteran Richard Donner . He's an action cinema specialist with numerous titles (Assassin , Conspiracy theory , Timeline , Lethal Weapon I..). Rating : Better than average . It's a must see for Bruce Willis fans in spite of his characterization as an old man .