16 Blocks

The Gist

Mos Def witnesses some cop at his corrupt practice and is going to testify in court. Bruce Willis, a good cop, is assigned to escort him to court. Problem is: a bad cop, played by David Morse, and his cronies want Def dead. All Willis has to do is hand him over and go home. He doesn’t. He wants to be a good cop. A game of cat and mouse ensues.

What Do I Think?

This pretty standard movie bravely gets released in between goliaths of summer blockbuster films. Isn’t the distributor afraid of competition from Cars, X-Men, The Fast and The Furious 3 and even The Omen? Nevertheless, this movie has its strengths with its simplicity of old school action drama and story telling. Most importantly, no CGI!

Mos Def is annoying as ever speaking like Adam Sandler in The Waterboy. The only difference is: Sandler fakes it; Def’s is more natural. But still annoying as ever! Bruce Willis, currently the hardest working actor of Hollywood, is playing himself again, each time reflecting the progression of his age at real life. Here, he is most of the time unshaven, alcoholic, tired and limps on one leg. Sin City anyone? David Morse returns to the big screen standing out with a worthy role that makes him a scene stealer every time he appears. Richard Donner is treating this as though it’s his Lethal Weapon 5. I can almost certainly imagine Willis’s role given to Mel Gibson. He is busy completing Apocalypto after his successful The Passion of the Christ. Maybe Willis was second choice.

The plot is really standard stuff, with no groundbreaking storyline. With the exception of Morse, all the actors give their average performances. I doubt that I’ll remember this film after a month’s time.

Rating:
5/10. Average points for an average film. Not too good but not too bad either.

Last updated: 2009-08-11 21:36:36 by joekhor