16 Blocks - spoilers

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Reginald de Curry
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16 Blocks - spoilers

Post by Reginald de Curry »

Saw it last night. The action is understated (no Lethal Weapon-style stunts) and the suspense isn't overpowering; a healthy mix that enhances the story rather than replacing it. Most of the movie proceeds in real time (or close to it), with only a few minutes bracketing the main story to provide the set-up and coda. Mos Def's voice bugged me at first (blah, blah, blah, on and on, would you shut up already!) but the character won me over by the end.

4/5 corpses

Spoilers ahead!
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Summary: Bruce Willis plays Jack Mosley, a burnt-out detective assigned the unenviable task of transporting a fast-talking convict (Mos Def) from jail to a courthouse 16 blocks away. However, along the way he learns that the man is supposed to testify against Mosley's colleagues, and the entire NYPD wants him dead. Mosley must choose between loyalty to his colleagues and protecting the witness, and never has such a short distance seemed so long...

Bruce Willis plays the main protaganist (not a hero), Jack Mosley, a burnt-out cop that actually feels real; he's not a bad-@$$, he's a borderline alcoholic, with the stagger to match. Mos Def plays Eddie Bunker, an aspiring baker and witness who will annoy the #3|| out of you for the first ten minutes and spend the rest of the movie making you like the character. David Morse provides the antagonists' face as Mosley's partner Frank Nugent; he's not the only one Mosley is up against, but he represents the others in screen time and insight. The villians aren't your traditional crooked cops, trying to use their positions to enrich themselves. They're extremists; they want to put the criminals away, but they break the law to do it. Mosley only turns against them when they try to cross the last line: committing murder to hide their crimes. Bunker isn't just baggage, either; he represents something Mosley never believed in: a former crook who is actually going to turn his life around . . . if he lives.

As Ravenloft source material, the plot could be useful. Mosley, Nugent, and the other members of the cabal could be lawmen who'd failed a number of powers checks while trying to do some good due to their extreme methods. When Bunker, a redeemed, witnessed the some of cabal's actions, Mosley sought redemption while Nugent and the others embraced the corruption by trying to eliminate the witness.
Pinky! Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

I think so, Brain, but didn't we give up ritual murder for Lent?
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