Willis stars as New York Police Detective Jack Mosley, a cop you wouldn’t want watching your back in a life or death shoot-out. He’s lazy, unmotivated, and just taking up space until he can hang up his badge and collect his pension. About the only thing he’s good for at this point in his career is pulling babysitting duty. Assigned to take a petty criminal named Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) from his jail cell to the courthouse 16 blocks away, Jack begrudgingly accepts the duty but not without putting up a fight.
Eddie needs to get to the courthouse and testify before the grand jury by 10:00am and that gives Jack 100+ minutes to complete a trip which should take about 15. But Jack, being the burn out he is, can’t make the 16 blocks without popping into a liquor store only a block or so into the trip. Have I mentioned he's a loser? Emerging from the store, Jack’s forced into action as the simple trip to drop off a prisoner turns into a 16 block fight for both their lives, pitting Jack and Eddie against the worst of New York’s finest.
Jack and Eddie are polar opposites drawn together under desperate circumstances. What you expect to happen does happen, but because Donner is a skilled director and Willis and Mos Def work well as a team, “16 Blocks” is saved from being a throw-away thriller.
And speaking of Mos Def, he’s affected this indescribably bizarre nasally voice and it’s grating to listen to for 90 minutes (almost to the point of being unbearably annoying). In fact, the latest TV spot for the movie doesn't even include Mos Def speaking so that ticket buyers who haven't seen the full length trailers won’t know what they’re in for until it’s too late. Once you’re into the film, the voice isn’t enough to make you want to get up and leave – but it’s close.
At this point I feel like if I’ve seen one ‘weary cop who battles booze more than he battles bad guys’ movie, I’ve seen them all. “16 Blocks” doesn’t so much break free of the mold but rather wraps itself up in the tried and true format and then adds a couple of special little moments so as not to be a total rehash of every generic bad guy seeks redemption film ever made.
“16 Blocks” is what it is. It’s Bruce Willis doing a character we’re familiar with. It’s Clint Eastwood’s “The Gauntlet” but on a much smaller scale. Realism and logic play very small roles and shoot-outs can take place on crowded streets with minimal collateral damage and no real signs of panic. The saving grace is a superb performance from Willis combined with an interesting one from Mos Def, and enough action sequences to shove the film along when the characters and dialogue don’t cut it.
GRADE: B-
"16 Blocks" was directed by Richard Donner and is rated PG-13 for violence, intense sequences of action and some strong language.
