16 Blocks
NOTE: This review first appeared on my Movia Mania blog during August 2006. However, I am in the process of moving some of the content from there to this one, before I eventually shut down the Movie Mania blog.
Tagline: For a New York cop and his witness, the distance between life and death just got very short.
Went to the movies on Tuesday night to see the new Bruce Willis film, 16 Blocks.
It was one of several films I could have seen, the others being two new Australian films, Ten Canoes, by the wonderful Rolf de Heer, and the other recent local release, Jindabyne, the new film from Lantana director Ray Lawrence. In the end I decided on 16 Blocks, because I felt a need for the occasional addrenalin rush that I thought a film like 16 Blocks might deliver.
It's certainly a film well worth taking a look at, if you like the genre. Ultimately, it's a film that deals with the redemption of the two main characters, Bruce Willis as the tired, alcoholic cop, Jack Moseley, and Mos Def as Eddie Bunker, a petty criminal who is the only witness to a homicide committed by a group of police officers. Jack Moseley is assigned the task of transporting the witness 16 blocks to the courthouse where he must appear before 10:00am, or the case against the officers will be thrown out. Needless to say, virtually all the officers concerned, supported by many of their fellow colleagues try to stop Jack and Eddie from reaching their destination by the designated time.
It has been commented on elsewhere, that the film borrows a lot of its ideas from Clint Eastwood's 1977 film, The Gauntlet, which sees Clint escorting a female witness from Las Vegas to Phoenix so that she can testify in a mob trial. As in 16 Blocks, everything but the kitchen sink is thrown at our hero and his witness in an attempt to stop them reaching the courthouse where the witness is due to appear.
Things to like about this film: Once Bruce Willis gets past the first 30 minutes as the cliche ridden, broken down drunken cop and starts to sober up, he becomes a lot more believable. David Morse is excellent as the corrupt cop, Frank Nugent. There is a nice twist at the end of the film (which I won't reveal here), where we learn a very important piece of information about Jack Moseley.
There are some good set piece action sequences throughout the film, but since the setting for the action is in and around the teaming streets of downtown New York, and since Jack and Eddie only have to travel 16 blocks to reach their destination, there isn't a lot of room for long extended car chases. Most of the time the action is taking place on foot, so even though there is a lot of running, jumping and climbing, oh, and shooting of course, by keeping the feet of our heroes firmly planted on the ground, they are not able to complete their journey too quickly.
Things to dislike about the film: Bruce Willis as the cliche ridden, broken down drunken cop! The incessant talking of Mos Def. However, in his defence, his role is to provide the comic relief throughout the film. Essentially, all the laughs come from the Eddie Bunker character.
Personally, I don't think the film does much more than what it was intended to do -- entertain for a couple of hours. Ultimately, I don't believe it will be regarded as a great film -- a film that people will want to seek out and view five years from now, let alone ten or twenty years from now.
--o0o--
Tagline: For a New York cop and his witness, the distance between life and death just got very short.
Went to the movies on Tuesday night to see the new Bruce Willis film, 16 Blocks.
It was one of several films I could have seen, the others being two new Australian films, Ten Canoes, by the wonderful Rolf de Heer, and the other recent local release, Jindabyne, the new film from Lantana director Ray Lawrence. In the end I decided on 16 Blocks, because I felt a need for the occasional addrenalin rush that I thought a film like 16 Blocks might deliver.
It's certainly a film well worth taking a look at, if you like the genre. Ultimately, it's a film that deals with the redemption of the two main characters, Bruce Willis as the tired, alcoholic cop, Jack Moseley, and Mos Def as Eddie Bunker, a petty criminal who is the only witness to a homicide committed by a group of police officers. Jack Moseley is assigned the task of transporting the witness 16 blocks to the courthouse where he must appear before 10:00am, or the case against the officers will be thrown out. Needless to say, virtually all the officers concerned, supported by many of their fellow colleagues try to stop Jack and Eddie from reaching their destination by the designated time.
It has been commented on elsewhere, that the film borrows a lot of its ideas from Clint Eastwood's 1977 film, The Gauntlet, which sees Clint escorting a female witness from Las Vegas to Phoenix so that she can testify in a mob trial. As in 16 Blocks, everything but the kitchen sink is thrown at our hero and his witness in an attempt to stop them reaching the courthouse where the witness is due to appear.
Things to like about this film: Once Bruce Willis gets past the first 30 minutes as the cliche ridden, broken down drunken cop and starts to sober up, he becomes a lot more believable. David Morse is excellent as the corrupt cop, Frank Nugent. There is a nice twist at the end of the film (which I won't reveal here), where we learn a very important piece of information about Jack Moseley.
There are some good set piece action sequences throughout the film, but since the setting for the action is in and around the teaming streets of downtown New York, and since Jack and Eddie only have to travel 16 blocks to reach their destination, there isn't a lot of room for long extended car chases. Most of the time the action is taking place on foot, so even though there is a lot of running, jumping and climbing, oh, and shooting of course, by keeping the feet of our heroes firmly planted on the ground, they are not able to complete their journey too quickly.
Things to dislike about the film: Bruce Willis as the cliche ridden, broken down drunken cop! The incessant talking of Mos Def. However, in his defence, his role is to provide the comic relief throughout the film. Essentially, all the laughs come from the Eddie Bunker character.
Personally, I don't think the film does much more than what it was intended to do -- entertain for a couple of hours. Ultimately, I don't believe it will be regarded as a great film -- a film that people will want to seek out and view five years from now, let alone ten or twenty years from now.
--o0o--
Director: Richard Donner |
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Labels: In Review
posted by Jim Lesses at
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