Movie Review 16 Blocks

16 Blocks (2006) 

Directed by Richard Donner 

Written by Richard Wenk 

Starring Bruce Willis, Mos Def, David Morse

Release Date March 3rd, 2006 

Published March 2nd, 2006 

16 Blocks is the latest suspense-thriller from director Richard Donner, best known for the Lethal Weapon pictures. Those films are remembered more for Mel Gibson's manic performance and Donner's bombastic action scenes than for intricate or clever plotting. That makes 16 Blocks something of a surprise. Donner's attention to character details and fast-paced plotting in 16 Blocks turns what might have been another average action exercise into a compelling nail-biting suspenser.

A burned-out, drunkard cop, Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) thinks his shift is over for the day. Heading for the door, and another bottle, Jack is stopped by his lieutenant and given one last assignment. Jack has 118 minutes to escort a prisoner, Eddie Bunker (Mos Def), 16 Blocks to the courthouse before the grand jury wraps for the day. Little does Jack know that the case the kid is testifying in is dangerous enough to get them both killed.

Bruce Willis is easily the most reliably compelling action star in film today. Even in his most rote or underwhelming vehicles like Bandits or Mercury Rising, Willis' flair and charisma are undeniable. In 16 Blocks Willis gives a character-driven performance that is becoming a trend as he transitions to elder-statesman action hero.

From his cop in Sin City to his cop in Hostage to his cop in 16 Blocks, Willis understands his niche and goes about finding unique notes for each character to play. The results have been very good thus far, with another unique character-driven performance coming this spring--a supporting role in the buzzworthy flick Alpha Dog.

Mos Def has proven himself an exceptionally-talented actor well beyond the stereotypical rapper-turned-actor. Seeking roles that most rappers-turned-actors either never seek nor pull off, Mos Def has excelled in the medical drama Something The Lord Made--for which he was nominated for an Emmy--and the effervescent Lackawanna Blues.

In 16 Blocks ,Mos Def cuts the figure of Eddie Bunker by adopting a unique, if occasionally unintelligible, patois that gives his motor-mouth character another layer of backstory for us to ponder. As the loquacious Eddie runs his mouth, Willis' cop becomes as irritated as we in the audience do, but just as he is eventually won over by Eddie's spirit and good nature, so are we.

Written by Richard Wenk, the screenplay for 16 Blocks is a cleverly-constructed action piece with two exceptional lead characters. Wenk strikes a near-perfect balance of character quirks, plot twists and big action sequences that, in retrospect, create a script that could not have been better suited for director Richard Donner, a master of the big action scene who's never had an action plot this good to back him up.

In 16 Blocks, Bruce Willis takes on the kind of role that Harrison Ford should consider. Willis, playing to  his age and capabilities, crafts a believable character. There is little ego to Willis' performance. The character is vulnerable, human, and very flawed. Where Ford cannot let go of his superman-action-hero persona, Willis defies his persona in ways that bring depth to his most recent performances. Am I saying one actor is better than the other? No, I am saying that Willis is currently making better choices than Ford and that Ford could learn a little something from watching Sin City, Hostage or 16 Blocks.

Director Richard Donner knows how to direct a crowd-pleasing action flick--he's been doing it since 1978's Superman. Three of the four Lethal Weapon movies are endlessly entertaining (the less said about the last Weapon sequel the better). Conspiracy Theory, Maverick and The Goonies are other terrific examples of Donner's crowd-pleasing abilities. What sets 16 Blocks apart from those films is the whipsmart plotting that backs up his other forte as a director--big, dumb, loud action. Keep an eye out for the bus chase scene which satisfies Donner's required major action set piece.

With Bruce Willis in the lead, 16 Blocks becomes almost infallibly entertaining. Watching Willis transition from action hero to aging character actor and yet maintain that star charisma is a real treat. His new persona solidified, we can only wonder now about his upcoming fourth Diehard film and how John McClane will fit with the new Bruce Willis. I cannot wait to see that, but even if Diehard 4 turns out to be a mistake, the new Bruce Willis should be able to recover quickly with another cheap, but efficient, thriller like 16 Blocks.

Movie Review Timeline

Timeline (2003)

Directed by Richard Donner 

Written by George Nolfi, Jeff Maguire

Starring Paul Walker, Frances O'Connor, Gerard Butler, Billy Connelly, David Thewlis, Anna Friel, Michael Sheen, Ethan Embry, Martin Csokas

Release Date November 26th, 2003 

Published November 26th, 2003 

It's been five years since director Richard Donner last stepped behind a camera. That was for the deathly Lethal Weapon 4, a creaky cash grab of an action movie that made even the indomitable Mel Gibson look bad. In fact, it has been nearly 10 years since Donner has directed a good movie, 1994's Maverick (also with Gibson.) In his comeback, adapting Michael Crichton's time traveling novel, Timeline, Donner continues the downward slide of his once great career.

Paul Walker stars as Chris, the son of archaeologist Professor Edward Johnston (Billy Connelly). When the professor disappears on a job, his son and his crew of archaeology students including Marek (Gerard Butler), David (Ethan Embry) and Kate (Frances O'Conner) must follow his clues to find him. The Professor's last job was working for a mysterious corporation called ITC. The corporation’s scientists have figured a way to send human beings back in time but only to one specific location: Castleberg, France in the 14th century on the eve of war between the French and British.

Well, wouldn't you these students just happen to be experts in that exact era? In fact they are excavating that very battlefield. What an amazing coincidence. ITC has sent the Professor back to the 14th century and now want to send Chris and company back there to find him and bring him back. Oh but if it were that easy, we wouldn't have a movie. Accompanied by a shady military guy played by Neal McDonough and his two soon-to-be-dead lackeys, the gang has six hours to find the professor and get back to the future.

For Donner, working entirely on autopilot, the time travel plot is merely a clothesline on which to hang one lame action sequence after another. The action has the period authenticity of a high school production of Shakespeare. When we aren't being annoyed with the lame action scene, we are treated to plot points that screenwriters Jeff Maguire and George Nolfi obviously thought were clever. The script ham-handedly sets up things in the present that will payoff in the past. When the supposed payoffs come, the actors practically scream, "see how this paid off, wow aren't we clever.”

Some of the plot points pay off so obviously you can't help but giggle at the goofiness of it all. The actors react like children who just discovered a light switch and want to explain to the audience how it works.

For his part, Walker turns in yet another young Keanu Reeves impression. All that is missing is the signature "Whoa." Walker looks about as comfortable in period garb as Dom Deluise would in a thong. The rest of the cast isn't much better, especially a slumming Frances O'Connor as Walker's love interest. O'Connor was so good in Spielberg's A.I that scripts like this should be easy to pass on but somehow, here she is.

Donner's best days are clearly behind him. The man who made Lethal Weapon and Lethal Weapon II, arguably the best buddy movie franchise ever, and the man who made arguably the best superhero movie of all time--Superman with Christopher Reeve--has now settled into a depressing groove of just simply picking up his check and turning out below-average action movies that make for great posters but not much else.