16 Blocks (2006)

Director:

Richard Donner

Writer (WGA):

Richard Wenk (written by)

Release Date:

3 March 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

For a New York cop and his witness, the distance between life and death just got very short.

Plot:

An aging cop is assigned the ordinary task of escorting a fast-talking witness from police custody to a courthouse. There are however forces at work trying to stop prevent them from making it.

Plot Keywords:

Bus | Aging Detective | Hostage | Shot In The Back | Conspiracy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Bruce Willis	...	Det. Jack Mosley
Mos Def	...	Eddie Bunker
David Morse	...	Det. Frank Nugent
Jenna Stern	...	Diane Mosley
Casey Sander	...	Capt. Dan Gruber
Cylk Cozart	...	Det. Jimmy Mulvey
David Zayas	...	Det. Robert Torres
Robert Racki	...	Det. Jerry Shue
Patrick Garrow	...	Touhey
Sasha Roiz	...	Kaller
Conrad Pla	...	Ortiz
Hechter Ubarry	...	Maldonado
Richard Fitzpatrick	...	Deputy Commissioner Wagner
Peter McRobbie	...	Mike Sheehan
Michael F. Keenan	...	Ray Fitzpatrick (as Mike Keenan)

Also Known As:

16 Blocks (Germany)
Sixteen Blocks (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, intense sequences of action, and some strong language.

Runtime:

Philippines:110 min | USA:105 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Portugal:M/12 | UK:12A | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Ireland:12A | Netherlands:12 | Germany:12 | Sweden:11 | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-11 | Denmark:11 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Brazil:14 | Hungary:16 | Argentina:Atp | USA:PG-13 | Malaysia:U | Norway:15

Filming Locations:

Casey's Bar - 613 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Alcon Entertainment

Trivia:

WILHELM SCREAM: Immediately following the bus tire being shot out a wilhelm scream can be heard.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Jack Mosley is in the bus talking to the negotiator, you can see the screen of the Nextel phone. Even though Jack is carrying on a conversation, the phone screen does not indicate the phone is in a call.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jack Mosley: [tape recording] This is Detective Jack Mosley, Shield number 227. I guess this will be my last will and testament. This is for Diane. Now, they're gonna come talk to you and they're gonna tell you things. But what they tell you isn't really what happen. So Diane, I think you should know what really happened. I was trying to do a good thing.

Movie Connections:

References "Hawaii Five-O" (1968)

Soundtrack:

Good Flower Round Moon

"16 Blocks" in 16 lines.

"16 Blocks" gives Richard Donner a chance to do a straighter cop film than the latter-day "Lethal Weapon" movies were.

This also lets Bruce Willis have another shot at his Everyman character and have a hero who's closer to "Unbreakable" than "Striking Distance."

No Superman he, he's a balding paunchy guy who just wants to go home.

Always good to see the Willis who can act rather than smirk.

It's a pretty stripped-down storyline, but Donner and writer Richard Wenk give as much emphasis to character as to action.

This means it isn't exactly "Die Hard" thrilling all the way through.

But it does make the movie somewhat more interesting than it might otherwise have been.

Mos Def's witness is irritatingly talkative, but that's the idea.

David Morse is terrific as the leader of the bad cops out to stop Clint and Sondra... er, sorry, Bruce and Mos.

(Face it, they are running "The Gauntlet.")

For fans of '80s TV, it's a kick to realise that this essentially pits David Addison against that nice Dr. Jack Morrison from "St. Elsewhere."

And props to the makers for not trying to spring a "surprise" twist on us about his best friend being a baddie, but rather showing it early on.

Especially since they save the real twist for much later.

It could have been a minor classic had it ended with the bus under siege as set up in the opening, rather than carrying on for about 20 minutes after, and Klaus Badelt's score is dreadful and completely outclassed by the snippet from "Ladyhawke" over the logo for The Donners' Company at the end.

But there are worse Richard Donner movies out there, like "Timeline."

And worse Bruce Willis cop movies, like the aforementioned "Striking Distance" and "Die Hard With A Vengeance."