Director : Richard Donner Starring : Bruce Willis, Mos Def Trailer for 16 Blocks Videodetective (Windows Media 28-300Kb) (a.videodetective.com) MovieMaze.de - Trailer (Quicktime) (imdb.moviemaze.de) More Movie Reviews... 16 Blocks Click here

Review by Gary Goldstein:

Though it aims higher than the average cop thriller, 16 Blocks rarely rises above its far-fetched plot and wham-bang mayhem. Richard Donner directed this grim tale of bad cops and worse cops with slightly more economy and restraint than, say, his Lethal Weapon installments, but in doing so has sacrificed some of the more primal and cathartic moments that make movies like this tick. Donner can approach Richard Wenk's noir-light script however he wants, but 16 Blocks is first and foremost an action picture. And, like they say, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck—well, it ain't Shakespeare. Credit lead Bruce Willis for trying to dig deep as grizzled, alcoholic NYPD vet Jack Mosley, a "cop with a past" who believes people can't change and that life's too long. Like Paul Newman in The Verdict and, more recently, John Travolta in A Love Song for Bobby Long, Willis eschews every last ounce of leading man glamour to play a boozy, tortured soul whose redemption will come from an unlikely source. In this case, it's Eddie Bunker (Mos Def), a motor-mouthed, petty crook Mosley's randomly assigned to escort from lock-up to the courthouse—16 blocks away—where the criminal is set to testify against a team of dirty cops, one of which includes Mosley's ex-partner and longtime friend, Frank Nugent (David Morse)..more..

Review By Brian Orndorf:

Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) is a small time felon awaiting transportation to a grand jury to testify about New York City's most crooked cops. Detective Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) is the alcoholic, overweight, bum-legged cop assigned to take him 16 blocks to the courthouse. As soon as it begins, their journey erupts into chaos, with a small band of rogue officers (led by David Morse) chasing them throughout the city, giving Jack and Eddie little breathing room as they both try to do the right thing for the first time in their lives.Three years ago, I thought the dream was over. "Timeline" was director Richard Donner's last picture, and it was an uncharacteristic disaster. After building a career with such classics as "Superman," "Lethal Weapon," "Ladyhawke," and "The Omen," Donner put in a half-hearted effort with the medieval adventure, in a production that felt doomed from the start. Thank goodness the fear of Donner's exhausted capabilities can now be laid to rest. His new thriller, "16 Blocks" is a cozy, spry little humdinger, returning the filmmaker to material that nurtures his confidence, and offers a limited location he can get creative with..More..