Talk about "16 Blocks" here:
Review by: Breanne Derby
Plot Summary
16 Blocks starred Bruce Willis as Jack Mosley, a very typical "good cop," and David Morse as Frank Nugent, a very typical "bad cop." Mos Def plays Eddie Bunker, a multiple-offense criminal who is trying to change his dishonest ways. Unfortunately, Jack and Frank have differing opinions as to what would be the best way for Eddie to change, and this sets Jack and Eddie on a race against the clock and against Frank and his henchmen in order to get Eddie to the courthouse on time to make his testimony, and get on with changing his life.
Review
Mos Def's performance is this film is very interesting, but I can't say I would ever want to see another film with him in it if I hadn't seen Hitchhiker's Guide. It's not that he's a bad actor; he did quite a good job of portraying his character in this film. The reason I might not see any more films with him was because the voice he used to play Eddie in this film was possibly the third most annoying voice ever in show-business (the first two being Fran Drescher and Lucille Ball). Fortunately, the irritating qualities of this voice were dulled down by the characters endearing ideas and childish quasi-innocence. Also, this is not his "real" voice; he sounds much different in Hitchhiker's Guide.
Bruce Willis certainly has taken the initiative to play old, grizzled police officers. He played a very similar character in 16 Blocks as he did in
Sin City, complete with the same bum leg. At age 51, his career certainly hasn't gone away, and he certainly possesses the ability to portray a painfully ordinary detective quite well. Unfortunately, in the beginning of the film Bruce Willis had a horribly distracting New York accent since he was supposed to have been a member of the NYPD. I don't imagine that the accent went away throughout the film, but it was less noticeable once the plot got underway.
One criticism I initially had of this film was the fact that the good-cop/bad-cop routine was something we've all seen in tons of films before. That aspect of the film led Bruce Willis' character to be a very predictable one, but this wasn't the type of film where the plot had to keep the viewer guessing to keep the film interesting, it was interesting enough as it was.
The best thing about the film was how involved in the characters I for one got as a viewer. The stories of their lives were intertwined in this story of trying to get to a courthouse. The depth that each character was given was really something that I appreciated. This thorough account of their pasts created characters that the audience was attached to and wanted to learn more about. However, along with the effective information about their pasts came lots of questions as well. There were several tidbits of the story that were never delved into. Early on Jack admits to seeing a woman named Caroline who is never mentioned again in the film, and the story of Eddie's lack of a birthday is never really told either.
Conclusion
When I went and saw this film, I was the only patron in the theatre. It was very nice because I got to sit wherever I wanted and I could put my feet on the seats without disturbing some unfortunate fellow in front of me, but I was really surprised that the theatre was empty. The sad thing is that this film was easily better than loads of the ones I've gone to where the theatre was quite full. I admit, 4:00 on a Thursday is a rather odd time to be going to the theatre, but there have been full films at that time before. It's amazing that films that turn out incredibly lousy can have full theatres and those which turn out to be alright can have completely empty ones. This one of the better films I've seen in theatres, which isn't really saying much except that it's better than average.
