Plot
An aging cop is assigned the ordinary task of escorting a fast-talking witness from police custody to a courthouse. There are however forces at work trying to stop prevent them from making it.

Release Year: 2006

Rating: 6.7/10 (60,033 voted)

Critic's Score: 63/100

Director: Richard Donner

Stars: Bruce Willis, Mos Def, David Morse

Storyline
Jack Mosley, a burnt-out detective, is assigned the unenviable task of transporting a fast-talking convict from jail to a courthouse 16 blocks away. However, along the way he learns that the man is supposed to testify against Mosley's colleagues, and the entire NYPD wants him dead. Mosley must choose between loyalty to his colleagues and protecting the witness, and never has such a short distance seemed so long...

Cast:
Bruce Willis - Det. Jack Mosley
Mos Def - Eddie Bunker
David Morse - Det. Frank Nugent
Jenna Stern - Diane Mosley
Casey Sander - Capt. Dan Gruber
Cylk Cozart - Det. Jimmy Mulvey
David Zayas - Det. Robert Torres
Robert Racki - Det. Jerry Shue
Patrick Garrow - Touhey
Sasha Roiz - Kaller
Conrad Pla - Ortiz
Hechter Ubarry - Maldonado
Richard Fitzpatrick - Deputy Commissioner Wagner
Peter McRobbie - Mike Sheehan
Michael F. Keenan - Ray Fitzpatrick (as Mike Keenan)

Taglines: For a New York cop and his witness, the distance between life and death just got very short.

Official Website: CMC [Taiwan] | Metropolitan Filmexport [France] |

Release Date: 3 March 2006

Filming Locations: Casey's Bar - 613 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $52,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $11,855,260 (USA) (5 March 2006) (2706 Screens)

Gross: $36,883,539 (USA) (21 May 2006)

Runtime: USA: 105 min  | Philippines: 110 min

Trivia:
The film's writer, Richard Wenk, has reported that he originally conceived of the project with himself as writer and director and, before shopping it around to anyone else, first approached Richard Donner because they had a struck up a good relationship when Donner really liked his rewrite of a script for a Lethal Weapon 4, even though that script was not used. Wenk said that upon hearing his pitch for his new film, Donner "liked it so much that he didn't want me to direct it; he wanted to direct." Wenk tells this story in the documentary about screen writing, Tales from the Script.

Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: Throughout most of the film when the camera is filming two different sets in one take, you can see circular depth of the camera, even more so when it shifts the prospective.

Quotes:
[first lines]
Jack Mosley: [tape recording] This is Detective Jack Mosley, Shield number 227. I guess this will be my last will and testament. This is for Diane. Now, they're gonna come talk to you and they're gonna tell you things. But what they tell you isn't really what happen. So Diane, I think you should know what really happened. I was trying to do a good thing.

A few hair-pin turns before the 16 blocks are traversed

Rating: 7/10

This is not a remake of "The Gauntlet," though the theme is a familiar one. There are, in fact, several movies with similar plots; "3:10 to Yuma" and "Narrow Margin" come to mind. A reviewer emailed me that "Midnight Run" not only has a story like "16 Blocks" but Bruce Willis' character Jack Mosley has a name that is a composite of the movie names for two of the leading roles in "Midnight Run": Robert De Niro's Jack Walsh and Yaphet Kotto's FBI Agent Alonzo Mosely. This, of course, may be mere coincidence. Though the story may seem like déjà vu, the action is fast paced making this an exciting film to watch.

Anyone who doubts that Bruce Willis can act needs only watch his standout performance in "Pulp Fiction" to see what depth this actor can bring to a demanding role. The role of Jack Mosely may not be challenging to Willis, but he still gives it all he's got which is plenty. Playing the part of an over the hill New York cop with a game leg, nothing to live for, and a drinking problem seems easy for Willis to make it all believable.

The criminal, Eddie Bunker, Jack must deliver to testify within a certain time frame is played with gusto by hip-hop artist Mos Def. Eddie is the most verbose prisoner ever. He rattles on and on about anything that comes to mind, some of it funny, some of it trite. He also has a riddle that is not answered till near the end of the film.

A standout performance is delivered by David Morse as the leader of the dirty cops, Frank Nugent. Morse is in danger of becoming typecast as a dishonest lawman. I'm hopeful he will become more diversified in his roles since he is such a talented actor.

This is another winner from action director Richard Donner. If you like his other successful concoctions such as the "Lethal Weapon" flicks, "Superman," "Conspiracy Theory," and "The Omen," then you will certainly enjoy "16 Blocks."

Comments: