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16 Blocks

Play trailer Poster for 16 Blocks PG-13 Released Mar 3, 2006 1h 42m Action Mystery & Thriller Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
55% Tomatometer 159 Reviews 57% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
Boozy and world-weary, NYPD Detective Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) draws a routine assignment to transport trial witness Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) to the courthouse by 10 a.m. The task quickly becomes a deadly game of cat-and-mouse when some of Jack's fellow officers arrive to kill Eddie so that he cannot testify against them. Jack sees a way to redeem his wasted life by protecting the affable Eddie from the would-be assassins.

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16 Blocks

16 Blocks

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Critics Consensus

Despite strong performances from Bruce Willis and Mos Def, 16 Blocks is a shopworn entry in the buddy-action genre.

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Critics Reviews

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Brian Tallerico UGO There's a fine line between old-fashioned and cliched. Mar 24, 2007 Full Review David Edelstein New York Magazine/Vulture A happier surprise is the smart work of director Richard Donner: 16 Blocks is all jumble and jangle-crowds, snarled traffic, and discordant car horns. May 12, 2006 Full Review Simon Braund Empire Magazine A solid, bare-knuckle action-thriller from Richard Lethal Weapon Donner that avoids most of the genre's clichs and boasts a commendably dishevelled performance from Willis, as a washed-up NYPD flatfoot dissolving in self-loathing. Rated: 3/5 May 6, 2006 Full Review Joshua Starnes ComingSoon.net Told in nearly real-time 16 Blocks stops and starts, putting in buffers for decent character moments between Jack and Eddie. It's necessary to understand why they do what they do, but it makes what they're doing occasionally dull. Rated: 6/10 Mar 3, 2011 Full Review Fernando F. Croce CinePassion B-movie done with shrewd aplomb Aug 30, 2009 Full Review Ross Anthony Hollywood Report Card At its heart, this is actually an excellent film. But, as filmmakers seek to escalate the big action, believability suffers severely. Rated: 2.5/4 Aug 20, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Larry L This maybe one of Bruce's best unknown movies. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/08/25 Full Review Blu B Better than I thought it would be honestly. The action is pretty standard stuff but there are genuine moments of character development with Willis And Def and enough of a twist to the story that it elevated it signifcantly through the flaws. Particulary Mos Def....oh my god he's terrible and as bad as Jar Jar at times. This was back in a time when Producers were out of ideas for PG-13 and said hmm what do kids like these days? Rappers! Who cares if they can actually act lets put them in shark movies and Halloween and this! Willis is alright and sleepwalking through most of this. Morse is good and the best thing acting wise. Everyone else is super forgettable. The cinematography also is just alright. Besides the bus, none of the action, settings, or anything really stand out for that matter. Donner's sharp direction especially for action is missing here. It also has a dull color to everything too that doesn't help. Visually it's boring but you can follow it enough. The music is also very boring and forgettable. The editing though is suprisngly solid and the pacing ain't bad. The second half is stronger once Mos def kind of calms down and there's less of him and the script takes some somewhat suprising turns even with certain parts you see coming a mile away. In a sense the script is kind of sharp actually but there are some scenes that do linger a bit too long and the first half is a buddy comedy almost and changes to a thriller. Which does work in it's favor. I did appreciate the heartfelt moments though more than I thought it would and it cuts the nonsense. It never feels mindless also. It's so close to being good especially if Def was replaced. But anyone who is a fan of any actors in this or 00's buddy action thrillers may like this. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/08/25 Full Review Chris P Another one of those great action movies. One you can go back to and watch again and again. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/03/25 Full Review Korra N Outstanding performances elevate an otherwise fine script, and some truly intense action helps raise the stakes with taut direction from Richard Donner. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/01/24 Full Review JOANNE P The main two characters evolve into a pleasure to watch. The action scenes are a bit tedious, but it's a warm hearted feel-good film - well worth watching. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/27/24 Full Review Sarah C Would've been so much more enjoyable if it wasn't for Yasiin Bey's voice. Damn horrendous, I couldn't focus the entire time because it sounds like someone broke his nose and strangled him the entire time he spoke. I'm all for cliché cop movies but his character, Eddie, really just ruins it. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 09/25/24 Full Review Read all reviews
16 Blocks

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Movie Info

Synopsis Boozy and world-weary, NYPD Detective Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) draws a routine assignment to transport trial witness Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) to the courthouse by 10 a.m. The task quickly becomes a deadly game of cat-and-mouse when some of Jack's fellow officers arrive to kill Eddie so that he cannot testify against them. Jack sees a way to redeem his wasted life by protecting the affable Eddie from the would-be assassins.
Director
Richard Donner
Producer
Randall Emmett, Avi Lerner, Arnold Rifkin, John Thompson, Jim Van Wyck, Bruce Willis
Screenwriter
Richard Wenk
Distributor
Warner Bros.
Production Co
Millennium Films, Cheyenne Enterprises, Equity Pictures Medienfonds, Emmett/Furla Films, Nu Image
Rating
PG-13 (Some Strong Language|Intense Sequences of Action|Violence)
Genre
Action, Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 3, 2006, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 24, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$36.9M
Runtime
1h 42m
Sound Mix
Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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