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Bruce Willis movies are good or bad, depending on how
beat up Willis can get in the process. Just look at the
Die Hard series. He gets the crapped kicked out of him more
and more as the series goes on and the third is quite possibly
the best in the series. Is that a coincidence? Not at this
point. ***
In 16 Blocks, Bruce Willis sure gets beat up and battered
but he starts the film that way as a down on his luck cop
who's taken up drinking and being depressed. The film kicks
off with Willis coming to the scene of a murder to be the
cop who sits and waits for the real cops to show up and
do their thing. After being told not to touch anything,
he rifles through the cupboards, grabs a bottle of alcohol
and replaces his coffee with liquid courage. A simple yet
effective way to show where Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) is
in his life. ***
After his shift ends, Mosley is asked by his lieutenant
to escort Eddie Bunker (Mos Def), a witness, to the court
house. He has to appear before a grand jury before 10am
or the district attorney is going to lose their case. What
the case is, we don't quite know but we find out soon enough.
***
With liquor on his mind, Mosley stops off at the local
liquor store to pick up a bottle for his own personal celebration.
During that time, his witness is almost whacked by a couple
of drug runners and the situation ramps up from routine
drop off to something a bit more dangerous. Basically, Eddie
Bunker is going to be testifying before the grand jury about
a couple of dirty cops and those cops want to shut Bunker
up by any means necessary. ***
And, just so 16 Blocks can be anything but cut and
dry, the lead cop who's going to get exposed is Jack's former
partner of 20 years. Yeah, it's one of those situations
where all the pieces would have to line up in the most unbelievable
way ever to make it seem even the least bit possible. Luckily,
the film, through Bunker's constant dialogue, manages to
constantly point out that this is one of those rare times
where the "signs" are all in place for this to be a situation
that has been determined by a higher being. ***
While the situation is obviously anything but original,
it works. Willis has his way about him where the harder
down on his luck his character is, the better his movies
tend to come off. 16 Blocks is no exception. It takes a
good idea and for three quarters of the running time, executes
it almost flawlessly. ***
Directed by old stalwart Richard Donner, 16 Blocks is
a definite return to form for the 71 year old director.
Last seen directing the abysmal Timeline, Donner took a
step back until he found a script that he really liked.
He also managed to raise all the money for this film on
his own, so that he could bypass the studio system and make
a film where he didn't have to answer to anybody. It worked,
as Donner helms a tight little action film that is paced
superiorly and has acting to match. ***
Donner is completely in charge of this picture, making
you effectively hate the "bad cops", while cheering on a
felon and his alcoholic protection. The script by Richard
Wenk manages to bond Jack and Eddie together without relying
on cheap sympathy or situation. They share a mutual respect
that builds throughout the movie. And while the motivation
for Jack to help Eddie seems completely misplaced, the film
does turn it around in the end and make sense, especially
if you've been paying attention to some of the tiny details
in the dialogue. ***
At the center of the action is, for my money, the best
rapper turned actor in the last few years, Mos Def. Mos
Def, unlike his fellow rappers, is a chameleon like actor,
able to shift gears with the snap of a finger. His character
in 16 Blocks, the fast talking Eddie Bunker, is unlike anything
he's ever played. With a slight lisp, almost as if he's
a little simple, Def cracks jokes within the dialogue that
isn't simply the usual stand up routine that these sidekick
characters are saddled with and shapes the character into
a sympathetic criminal, worthy of our time. ***
16 Blocks is far from perfect. The ending leaves a
lot to be desired as the gritty nature of the first three
quarters of the film is abandoned to make the audience feel
good and wrap the entire package in a bow so that nobody
goes home feeling like no good came out of a story about
dirty cops. It's almost as if the film compromises its own
loyalties. It's also disconcerting that the main bad cop
(David Morse) is able to show up at any given time as if
he knows exactly where Jack is going to be going. It sort
of lends the film to many moments where you're asking "How
did he know they were going to be there?" ***
Transfer & Sound: A good transfer is on display here
as the blood that Willis accumulates on his clothes looks
crisp and clear. The sound is mastered well. Dialogue is
sharp and clear while the sound effects are nice and booming
on the track. ***
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