Review: 16 Blocks

I'm not sure what kind of hopes I had, going into seeing 16 Blocks, but I suppose I expected more from Bruce Willis, who by now should be a master of playing burnt-out cops. I also expected something from Mos Def, who I last recall playing Ford Prefect in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and played a pretty good comic foil. But instead, Willis grunts and limps through this "real-time" feature, while Def adopts an annoying, nearly indecipherable whine. Willis plays a tired detective assigned to escort an eyewitness, Def, to the courthouse 16 blocks away (get it?) so he can testify in a trial that involves dirty cops. Along the way, they are repeatedly attacked.

I didn't really feel any kind of buddy-movie bonding, besides the fact that Willis suddenly chooses to be a stand-up officer of the law, and repeatedly saves chatterbox Def from being taken out by corrupt cops. David Morse plays the villain of the piece, Willis' former partner for 20 years, trying to clean up a mess that would take down half a dozen officers on the take.

The action escalates, with Willis trading bullets with his former friends, until it culminates with a busload of hostages. Blah blah blah negotiation, blah blah blah interrogation, blah blah blah redemption. The only real memorable aspect of his film is Willis' regrettable 'stache, and Mos Def's nasally interminable voice.

∆∆ out of five