Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (June 2, 2006)
2006’s 16 Blocks features two guys in need of a hit. Director Richard Donner made his name with Superman and the Lethal Weapon series, but he’d faded. Of his four movies over the last 10 years, only 1998’s Lethal Weapon 4 managed to break the $100 million mark. 2003’s Timeline grossed a pathetic $19 million, and even the combined wattage of Julia Roberts and Mel Gibson couldn’t take 1997’s Conspiracy Theory past $76 million.
And then there’s actor Bruce Willis. Now in his fifties, Willis hasn’t headlined a hit in years. Not counting animated fare like Over the Hedge, 1999’s The Sixth Sense was his last flick to make more than $100 million. Recent efforts like 2005’s Hostage and 2004’s The Whole Ten Yards completely tanked.
Unfortunately, 16 Blocks didn’t exactly bring Willis and Donner back to the top of the charts. It took in a weak $36 million, which just about covers the bill for Willis’s hairpieces. I guess both men will have to hope for renewed success later, as Blocks failed to find an audience.
In Blocks, Willis plays burned-out, alcoholic old cop Jack Mosley. He gets a simple assignment in which he needs to escort a petty crook named Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) 16 blocks from jail to court where he’ll act as a witness. After a long night, Jack just wants to go home, but he grudgingly accepts the apparently easy task.
Unfortunately for both Jack and Eddie, matters don’t go smoothly. Within minutes, they come under attack from guys who want Eddie dead. Jack soon finds out why. Eddie saw some bad cops and will blow the whistle on them. This group includes Jack’s old partner Frank Nugent (David Morse).
Frank tries to convince Jack to turn over Eddie to him so they can dispose of him and get off the hook. Jack decides to make a stand and he takes Eddie under his wing to guide him to court. The movie follows their efforts to get there.
When I saw the previews for Blocks, I thought it had a lot of potential. The premise sounded reasonably promising, and it presented much room for tight, anxiety-provoking action. Add to that a good roster of talent behind it and the flick should have been a winner.
Unfortunately, it too often shoots itself in the foot. The film simply lacks the requisite tension to work as a thriller. I don’t mind that we quickly learn about the forces arrayed against Jack and Eddie. That factor should add drama since we can appreciate the long odds against which our odd couple battles. Basically the entire New York police force comes at them, whether wittingly or not.
Somehow Donner manages to almost totally eliminate the tension, though. Part of the problem comes from all the tricks he uses. Blocks feasts on red herrings. Donner presents one false move after another, and they quickly lose any form of effectiveness. From early in the film, we learn not to trust what we see, and that means that potentially dramatic scenes fall flat. We know that nothing special will happen, so we don’t invest in them.
Attempts to develop camaraderie between Jack and Eddie feel forced. They become pals because that’s the kind of movie this is. Def’s odd performance doesn’t help. He channels Ratso Rizzo in a quirky, self-conscious turn. I think Def is arguably the most talented rapper-turned-actor out there, and with roles in varied flicks such as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Woodsman, he certainly shows much greater range than I ever expected. However, I don’t know why he decided to make Eddie such a cartoon, as this renders the character annoying from start to finish.
The film’s main problem remains its lack of excitement. It tosses out the sporadic action scene but never really invests in them. Combine that with the ways in which the movie seems to go out of its way to telegraph elements and 16 Blocks ends up as a lackluster effort.
