Cheap 16 Blocks (Widescreen Edition) (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of 16 Blocks (Widescreen Edition)

You walk 16 blocks, and what do you get...
Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) is a burned out detective who just wants to go and get drunk at the end of his shift. Actually he has no problem with taking a drink while on the job. But then his boss orders him to take a witness 16 blocks from the precinct to the courthouse to testify at a grand jury hearing. Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) has to be there before the grand jury's term expires in two hours. Mosley goes and gets this guy out of lockup and pushes him in the back of the car to get to the courthouse. Mosley then discovers that this guy WILL NOT SHUT UP. If there was ever a chatterbox who would drive a guy to drink, it is Eddie Bunker. So Mosley pulls off to a liquor store to do just that and while he is there a Russian with a gun goes up to the car and tries to shoot Eddie. Mosley kills the guy, but it turns out he is just the first assassin, so Mosley takes Eddie and begins to run. <
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>Mosley hides out in what is probably his favorite saloon and calls his superior office to send help, because somebody clearly wants Eddie dead. But help is not exactly what arrives, because Frank Nugent (David Morse), is one of those people who wants Eddie dead. The plan was simple. Give the assignment to Mosley, knowing that he will do what he always does, go and get a drink, and use the opportunity to blow Eddie away before he can go testify to the grand jury about police corruption. The cops that Nugent brings with him begin setting up the scenario that will allow them to kill Eddie and Mosley, for reasons he can probably not even articulate, stops them and suddenly becomes a real cop again. <
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>There might be better ways of bringing down the bad cops than trying to get Eddie the rest of those 16 blocks, but Mosley apparently has a stubborn streak in him. If only he did not need to stop and catch his breath so often, and only is Eddie WILL SHUT UP (there is a point where Mosley just looks at Eddie and says wearily, "You're killing me"). The film is directed by Richard Donner, who did all of those "Lethal Weapon" films, and who here has to deal with what is basically a chase film done in the traffic jammed streets of New York City, as well as its back alleys and tenements. Under such circumstances being a hundred years or a floor ahead of your pursuers can make a big difference. This is a chase movie where a major segment of the film involves a bus and for most of that time the bus is not moving. The screenplay by Richard Wenk sets up a situation it which it should be impossible for Mosley to get Eddie to that grand jury, and then finds a way to remain true to both the situation and the characters he has created. <
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>Above all, this film is carried by the performances of the three principles. Willis has the least to say but the most to do, but then once he makes his choice there is little left to say. In contrast, the more Eddie talks the more Def actually makes the guy endearing so that he actually grows on you, especially after a pivotal scene that shows there might actually be a limit to what Eddie is willing to take. Then there is Morse, who started off his professional career as the compassionate Jack Morrison on "St. Elsewhere," the guy that you would want to be your doctor, and since then has made a career of playing bad guys. His character gives this film an additional twist, because despite what has happened, he really does not think this has ended his friendship with Mosley and keeps trying to persuade him to give Eddie up. <
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>It turns out the DVD has a new ending, with ending that was shown in the theaters now preserved as the "alternate ending." I saw the new ending before I saw the old ending, and I like what they have on the DVD better, not because of the differences in who ends up dead, but because of the difference in who shoots the fatal bullet and what it says about how far corruption goes with people that wear badges. I know that corrupt cops are a commonplace in films and I have little doubt that such things exist in the real world, but I am slightly bothered by the idea that after 9/11 New York's Finest continued to indulge in such rampant corruption. But the movie forgets all about that recent history so there is really no reason for us not to do so as well.

BEST CRIME THRILLER IN YEARS
Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon, Maverick, Conspiracy Theory) directs Bruce Willis in this somewhat unusual crime thriller about an over-the-hill, alcoholic, New York City cop (nothing new for Willis) assigned the task of escorting a witness to the courthouse. The witness, Eddie Bunker - played by Mos Def (Something The Lord Made) - is appearing in a case against a group of fellow cops. Jack was never meant to be the escort, and the witness was never meant to reach the courthouse. But Jack still has enough grit left to put up a good fight against the bad cops trying to stop Eddie, and the clock that is ticking, as he and his witness attempt to traverse the 16 blocks from the police station to the courthouse before the jury is dismissed. <
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>This is Donner at his action best. Willis is also excellent, and truly looks and acts the part of a worn out, self-abused cop, as he tries to do the right thing by helping Eddie, even though it puts him on the wrong side of former friends that are part of the corrupt group of cops. For those who are used to seeing Willis the action hero, healthy and in shape, prepare yourself: he looks old and feeble. But that's okay, he's supposed to. Def is good as the optimistic witness Eddie - a former thief that believes people can change - and provides the usual Donner talkative element. A hallmark of all Donner films, the endless chatter could get on your nerves - especially considering Eddie's nasally voice - but it is usually entertaining. David Morse is solid, though not especially interesting, as Frank Nugent, Jack's former partner and leader of the bad cops that will use any means possible to keep Jack and Eddie from reaching the courthouse. <
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>Writer-director Richard Wenk (Just The Ticket) wrote the script for this one, and although he stretches the believability factor to the absolute limit - what else would you expect in a Donner flick? - and has the predictable face-off between Jack and Frank at the end, there is plenty of action, as well as twists and turns in plot, so that most viewers will be kept on the edge of their seat for the literally 102 minute trek. The best twist is at the end; but if you don't like that ending, a second, unscripted - and weaker - one is provided. <
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>Waitsel Smith