16 Blocks

June 26, 2006

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 105 min Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

16 Blocks isn’t all that bad as far as formula movies go, but it’s not all that good either. For one thing it’s never a good sign when I check my watch twice in the first 15 minutes.

16 Blocks Bruce Willis stretches his acting skills by taking on the role of Jack, a New York City cop who’s not all that happy with his job and who drinks to help ease the pain. He’s been working another night shift and is on his way to sign out for the day when his boss stops him with a last minute assignment. Jack’s job is to pick up a witness from holding and escort him to the grand jury so he can give testimony. Yeah yeah.

Enter the real star of this movie, Mos Def as Eddie. Eddie has a certain linguistic style that might take you a few minutes to get used to, but once that happens you’re gonna love every second he’s on the screen. You’ll have to get used to it quickly too as Eddie likes to hear himself talk.

Jack has 2 hours to get Eddie to the jury so he figures he’s got enough time to stop off at the liquor store for a “pick-me-up”. Meanwhile, back at the ranch… some thugs (just had to work that word in here somewhere) have been watching Eddie and when they see he’s been left alone they move in to eliminate the witness.

About this time Jack regains his senses long enough to figure out that Eddie saw something important and that maybe, just maybe he should pay attention to his job for the next hour or so. Can’t really say much else about the plot, but expect lots of clichés about dirty cops and witnesses, internal leaks, etc. etc.

Other than the excellent performance by Mos Def everyone here looks like they just did this one for the paycheck. It’s just so by-the-numbers that you never need to engage your brain to figure out what the next plot point will be. This is a 2 star movie that’s brought up to 3 by Mos Def, you’ll want to wait on DVD for this one unless you’re really bored. And this movie won’t really solve that problem anyway.

Posted by John | Filed Under 3 Stars, Action, Bruce Willis, DVD, David Morse, David Sparrow, David Zayas, Mos Def, PG-13