An aging alcoholic cop is assigned the task of escorting a witness from police custody to a courthouse 16 blocks away. There are, however, chaotic forces at work that prevent them from makin... Read allAn aging alcoholic cop is assigned the task of escorting a witness from police custody to a courthouse 16 blocks away. There are, however, chaotic forces at work that prevent them from making it in one piece.An aging alcoholic cop is assigned the task of escorting a witness from police custody to a courthouse 16 blocks away. There are, however, chaotic forces at work that prevent them from making it in one piece.
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
- Eddie Bunker
- (as Mos Def)
- Ray Fitzpatrick
- (as Mike Keenan)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
The movie displays suspense , action ,thriller and is very entertaining . The film's writer, Richard Wenk, has reported that he originally conceived of the project with himself as writer and director and, before shopping it around to anyone else, first approached Richard Donner because they had a struck up a good relationship when Donner really liked his rewrite of a script for Lethal weapon 4 (1998) , even though that script was not used . It's a special buddy movie between a dreary , boozy cop magnificently played by Bruce Willis and a fast-talking prisoner well acted by Mos Def , detaching an agreeable chemistry . Although the film is principally interpreted by two main actors also contains exceptional performances by its entire secondary cast , especially by David Morse and Jenna Stern . Living musical score adjusted appropriately to the action by Klaus Badelt and adequate cinematography by Glen McPherson . The movie produced by Milennium (Trevor Short ,Boaz Davidson , Danny Lerner) usually producers of low-medium budget but here was lavishly filmed . The motion picture was professionally directed by the veteran Richard Donner . He's an action cinema specialist with numerous titles (Assassin , Conspiracy theory , Timeline , Lethal Weapon I..). Rating : Better than average . It's a must see for Bruce Willis fans in spite of his characterization as an old man .
Anyone who doubts that Bruce Willis can act needs only watch his standout performance in "Pulp Fiction" to see what depth this actor can bring to a demanding role. The role of Jack Mosely may not be challenging to Willis, but he still gives it all he's got which is plenty. Playing the part of an over the hill New York cop with a game leg, nothing to live for, and a drinking problem seems easy for Willis to make it all believable.
The criminal, Eddie Bunker, Jack must deliver to testify within a certain time frame is played with gusto by hip-hop artist Mos Def. Eddie is the most verbose prisoner ever. He rattles on and on about anything that comes to mind, some of it funny, some of it trite. He also has a riddle that is not answered till near the end of the film.
A standout performance is delivered by David Morse as the leader of the dirty cops, Frank Nugent. Morse is in danger of becoming typecast as a dishonest lawman. I'm hopeful he will become more diversified in his roles since he is such a talented actor.
This is another winner from action director Richard Donner. If you like his other successful concoctions such as the "Lethal Weapon" flicks, "Superman," "Conspiracy Theory," and "The Omen," then you will certainly enjoy "16 Blocks."
In spite of being a flawed movie, "16 Blocks" is a good entertainment with lots of action and an optimistic, hopeful and commercial message in the end that people can change, with the redemption of Eddie and Jack. Mos Def irritates with his accent, and Bruce Willis is totally different from his usual shape, inclusive with a "tire" on his belly. It is funny to see all the damage caused by the bus in Manhattan and no press and no interventions of Ada MacDonald (Brenda Pressley), who was interested in the case. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "16 Quadras" ("16 Blocks")
Willis is impressive with his burnt-out-edness. His character does not resemble any kind of action hero here; unfit, overweight, unattractive, shuffling, gasping for a drink. Well done. And while I like David Morse his character was a bit over-the-top. I mean, I get that they're crooked cops but really, shooting wildly into a crowded NY street and a bus full of civilians. Did the bad cops think they were completely above the law or any repercussions? That they could just do whatever they wanted without consequence? Reminded me a bit of that opening scene with Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L Jackson from "The Other Guys" except that was a comedy. I will say that this grew on me by the end though. 06.13
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn order to make Detective Jack Mosley's limp look realistic on screen, Bruce Willis put a pebble in his shoe and kept it there throughout the length of the shoot.
- GoofsWhen the bus drives down the alley, knocking down air conditioners, one of them falls apart, revealing it to be an empty metal box.
- Quotes
Jack Mosley: [as an answer to Eddie Bunker's riddle] You give your car keys to your best friend, who takes your car and drives the old lady to a hospital. You stay behind with the love of your life.
- Crazy creditsThere are no opening credits save the title "16 BLOCKS".
- Alternate versionsSPOILER: On the DVD is a version with an alternate ending, where Nugent calls off killing Jack after they talk in the basement of the courthouse, but can't get through to Torres. Nugent runs upstairs to stop Torres. After Jack tells the ADA he's willing to testify, Torres shoots him when he pulls the tape recorder from his pocket just as Nugent reaches him. They both fall down the stairs. But then Nugent moves as the playback starts on the tape recorder. The ADA rushes to the jury with the recording as someone covers Jack's face with a blanket. Later a voice over (when Diane gets the cake) by Eddie reveals that Diane came to see him in Seattle to tell him that Jack is dead.
- ConnectionsFeatured in HBO First Look: 16 Blocks (2006)
- SoundtracksBesame
Written by Jeeve and Von Shock
Performed by Sapien
Courtesy of Where's My Cut Productions
By arrangements with Blast! Management and Pen Music Group
- How long is 16 Blocks?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Muerte súbita
- Filming locations
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada(As NYC:)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $52,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $36,895,141
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $11,855,260
- Mar 5, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $65,664,721
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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