16 Blocks

As good as Willis is, he's no match for Mos Def.

This is some of the best filmmaking ever done by director Richard Donner, a longtime Hollywood journeyman known more for his proficient deployment of three long-running movie franchises (The Omen, Superman and Lethal Weapon) than for his lyricism.

The bedrock of the plot is the dogged determination of the Bruce Willis character. Jack may be middle-aged, he may be tired, he may be balding, he may be a drunk, but if he's played by Bruce Willis you don't want to bet against him.

Although much of the plot defies credulity, Richard Donner directs the odd-couple action drama with a nimble facility that draws viewers in.

It's unbelievably bland.

Willis' performance mystifies, while Mos Def's mesmerizes.

This noisy, formulaic film turns out to be immediately forgettable, except for the parts that are so ridiculous they leave you shaking your head in wonder hours later.

Willis plays a burnt out old cop flawlessly. His character develops into a compassionate person who is drawn to do the right thing. A very good film to view.

16 Blocks was a good movie, the story is good, the perfomances too, but the currency of the story is slow, and it makes boring you, but I enyojed this movie.

"16 Blocks" is the usual buddy-cop movie with the decent action sequences. However its Richard Donner's top notch cinematography that saves the movie.

If your into an endless chase movie without any real plot or substance than this movie is for you. The movie runs forever without any fluidity to the storyline. Bruce willies, an over the hill detective, is forced to chose whether his going to line up with his old squad and eliminate a witness that is about to bring a lot of â

A tedious and generic action thriller that wastes a compelling real-time premise on clunky execution, sluggish pacing, and formulaic tropes.130902 (1.0)Directed by Richard Donner, "16 Blocks" (2006) is an urban crime action thriller that attempts to construct an edge-of-your-seat suspense story around a ticking-clock narrative setup. Set in the noisy, bustling streets of New York City, the story centers on Jack Mosley, a burnt-out, alcoholic, and physically aging NYPD detective who is reluctantly assigned a seemingly mundane, routine task at the end of his shift. His job is to escort Eddie Bunker, a fast-talking, overly chatty petty criminal, from a police holding cell to a courthouse located merely sixteen blocks away, where Eddie is scheduled to testify before a grand jury before a 10:00 AM deadline. However, what should have been a simple fifteen-minute transit quickly turns into a deadly nightmare when corrupt fellow officers, led by Jack's long-time friend and veteran detective Frank Nugent, ambush their vehicle. Realizing that Eddie's testimony will expose widespread systemic corruption and land several high-ranking precinct officers in prison, Nugent's ruthless crew attempts to execute the witness. In an unexpected moment of moral awakening, the weary Jack chooses to protect Eddie, embarking on a desperate, block-by-block battle for survival through crowded streets, buses, and abandoned apartments to reach the courthouse alive. Starring Bruce Willis as Detective Jack Mosley alongside Yasiin Bey (credited as Mos Def) as Eddie Bunker and David Morse as Detective Frank Nugent, the film relies on a familiar mismatched-duo dynamic. Yet despite Willis's committed attempt to play a broken, world-weary lawman and Morse's menacing presence as the cold antagonist, the film completely fails to build genuine momentum or palm-sweating tension. Donner's direction feels strangely sluggish and uninspired, leaning on predictable shootouts, convenience-heavy plot devices, and tedious dialogue exchanges that completely deflate the urgency of the real-time setup. Yasiin Bey's high-pitched, fast-talking delivery rapidly grows grating rather than endearing, making the central relationship feel artificial and strained. Rather than delivering a tight, gritty thriller in the vein of classic 1970s crime cinema, the narrative drags through endless generic set pieces and forced sentimental character arcs. Viewing this in 2013 was a thoroughly dull, formulaic, and deeply disappointing cinematic experience that squandered a promising premise, earning a low score.