16 Blocks and more words from Mos Def than you'll ever hear EVER
This was an unexpected surprise. Aside from never hearing a thing about it (direct to DVD? A shame.), this should've been a box office thriller - more so than some of the other crap I've seen recently. Bruce Willis teams up with Mos Def in a twist on the buddy-in-a-bind genre.
Firstly, they're not buddies - Willis is a washed-up cop with short time, a torn up knee and a bottle in his desk. Mos Def is a witness Willis is charged to get to the federal courthouse to testify in a "very important case", can you hear the capital letters. The problem - of course, someone doesn't want Def to get to his date with the DA. Compounded by the fact that Willis can barely stand up without a couple of jiggers of Crown Royale more in him. Multiply this by the fact that the people who don't want Def to get to the courthouse are cops. Specifically, buddies of Willis'. Turns out Def has information that these cops are corrupt and took money and did some bad things.
But for some reason, Willis decides today is gonna be the day that he plays hero and gets this witness just 16 blocks to the courthouse. With no car. And not really any ammo. And all the ways blocked off. And every cop in the city persuaded that Willis is the one gone rogue on one of "their own", so tensions are high to find him, "no mattah what," in the NYC vernacular.
After a couple of really innovative scenes on how to get them mere blocks closer within the specified time frame - oh, yes; there is a 10:00 am deadline for the courtroom, Willis makes a move I didn't see coming. He turns to Def and tells him to get out of there and he, Willis, will go to the courtroom. The presumption is that he will draw the fire and allow Mos Def to live and get away, but the case would fall apart. And then he confesses that, no; he was one of those bad cops that Def was gonna testify about, and he could give the same evidence, so the case could still go on. (Screen silence.) (Didn't see that apple cart.)
Def races off and Willis continues on to the courthouse, and a really intense scene plays out between former partners and friends and now enemies in a who-will-live who-will-die standoff. The ending of this standoff is so righteous you just wanna scream "YEAH!" but Mr. No Couch Bouncing doesn't like the yelling, but who really cares, it was that solid.
I didn't think Mos Def had it in him to be as verbose as this role had him play it; he literally had to cover almost every second of silence and action with a non-stop running verbal faucet, and although Def is a mightily accomplished poet and rapper, this had to be really challenging. Completely changed the way I viewed his acting chops. Willis has got to get out of the " cop with a..." milieu, but, doggone it, it does seem to work for him. Gotta be the smirk.
Anyway, maybe you never heard of it, but I can't stop raving about this one. Who would've thought just 16 blocks could take 2 hours, but hey, it is NYC. Kidding. Grab this one - with both hands. Triple Diet Coke (and popcorn, if you're allowed).
Firstly, they're not buddies - Willis is a washed-up cop with short time, a torn up knee and a bottle in his desk. Mos Def is a witness Willis is charged to get to the federal courthouse to testify in a "very important case", can you hear the capital letters. The problem - of course, someone doesn't want Def to get to his date with the DA. Compounded by the fact that Willis can barely stand up without a couple of jiggers of Crown Royale more in him. Multiply this by the fact that the people who don't want Def to get to the courthouse are cops. Specifically, buddies of Willis'. Turns out Def has information that these cops are corrupt and took money and did some bad things.
But for some reason, Willis decides today is gonna be the day that he plays hero and gets this witness just 16 blocks to the courthouse. With no car. And not really any ammo. And all the ways blocked off. And every cop in the city persuaded that Willis is the one gone rogue on one of "their own", so tensions are high to find him, "no mattah what," in the NYC vernacular.
After a couple of really innovative scenes on how to get them mere blocks closer within the specified time frame - oh, yes; there is a 10:00 am deadline for the courtroom, Willis makes a move I didn't see coming. He turns to Def and tells him to get out of there and he, Willis, will go to the courtroom. The presumption is that he will draw the fire and allow Mos Def to live and get away, but the case would fall apart. And then he confesses that, no; he was one of those bad cops that Def was gonna testify about, and he could give the same evidence, so the case could still go on. (Screen silence.) (Didn't see that apple cart.)
Def races off and Willis continues on to the courthouse, and a really intense scene plays out between former partners and friends and now enemies in a who-will-live who-will-die standoff. The ending of this standoff is so righteous you just wanna scream "YEAH!" but Mr. No Couch Bouncing doesn't like the yelling, but who really cares, it was that solid.
I didn't think Mos Def had it in him to be as verbose as this role had him play it; he literally had to cover almost every second of silence and action with a non-stop running verbal faucet, and although Def is a mightily accomplished poet and rapper, this had to be really challenging. Completely changed the way I viewed his acting chops. Willis has got to get out of the " cop with a..." milieu, but, doggone it, it does seem to work for him. Gotta be the smirk.
Anyway, maybe you never heard of it, but I can't stop raving about this one. Who would've thought just 16 blocks could take 2 hours, but hey, it is NYC. Kidding. Grab this one - with both hands. Triple Diet Coke (and popcorn, if you're allowed).
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