Richard Donner’s “16 Blocks” plays with the notion of a good cop/bad cop film. Bruce Willis plays Jack Mosley, a down-and-out policeman who has to escort Eddie Bunker, a witness, played by hip-hop artist Mos Def, to court within two hours for his testimony to be admitted to the case. However, Mosley uncovers forces standing between them and the courthouse as he battles with corruption among his fellow policemen.

Andrew Schmeisser: At first, I thought this movie was going to be similar to “Hostage,” another Willis film, in which Willis plays a rather down-and-out cop who takes on one last job. As the film got going, however, I felt it was an overall good show. There were many surprises and turns in the drama that kept me watching. Granted, I could predict some of what was going to happen, but I was still very much entertained.

Jill Blackledge: I went in feeling this was going to be the same old Willis thriller. He has played the renegade civilian so many times that it seems natural for him to come out, guns ablaze, and take down the bad guys who stand in his way. “16 Blocks” seems to fall into this typical category of films, but it changes by revealing a major part of the story – the reason why people want to prevent Bunker from testifying – as its first plot point.

AS: I did have my doubts about how Willis would do in this film, but as I quickly found out, Willis pulled off this roll very well. He played Jack Mosley, a member of New York’s finest and an alcoholic with a severe limp. He was basically the tragic hero if I ever saw one. This role worked for Willis because he didn’t show off his usual bravado and pompous attitude. He just wanted to do something good. As for his co-stars, they were a little harder to get around. Mos Def, with his voice as nasal as it could be, eventually won me over, but left me thinking he was a little annoying. As for David Morse, I felt that he was a slight exaggeration of the character but a good antagonist for Willis.

JB: The director definitely played with stereotypes of dramatic characters – maybe a little too much – but they work because they don’t become too heroic or larger-than-life. Mosley wasn’t always a good guy – and neither was Bunker – but one of the main messages of the film is that people can change. They’re put in this situation, they’re tested and they have to battle with themselves before they can struggle with their position.

AS: I thought the way the movie was presented was well done overall. The director very obviously gave a lot of thought to how to present this story. The attention to detail was what really impressed me, because Willis presented a consistent image throughout and gave me the feeling that although he’s older, usually drunk and has a severe limp, he was – and still is – trained in the precise, militaristic way of the NYPD. The intense moments were also presented well. They didn’t happen in any rhythm – as a majority of other Willis films do – and they were more intense of conflicts than just a random gunfight.

JB: It’s a film that held my attention and presented interesting character points, as well as a more precise opening. But afterward, it did sink back into the traditional sort of dramatic thriller. There are chase scenes, there are improbable situations that no one but Bruce Willis could escape and there are the people who luckily come along at just the right moment to help. Granted, it’s all very entertaining, but it’s been done.

AS: I did appreciate the short quips and one-liners that the dialogue had dispersed throughout. The nervous sense of humor wasn’t so much so that it was distracting, and it wasn’t so little as to make the movie completely depressing. The sarcastic on-the-run kind of jabs that Mosley and Bunker shared kept the movie from getting too tense. It did, however, leave me wondering whether people actually talk like that.

JB: To me, the ending was a little sketchy. The focus throughout the whole movie shifts between Bunker and Mosley, but at the end, it seems like Bunker is totally forgotten. Although Mosley is really the hero of the film, it seems odd to have such an important character in the story fade abruptly away.

AS: Unfortunately, the ending of the movie disappointed me some, as it lost the random factor and went into a cliche kind of ending. It was still very entertaining, but the ending was something I’m certain I might’ve seen before. Overall, it wasn’t too bad.

JB: In the end, “16 Blocks” provided an entertaining suspense film that held my attention and also explored some interesting character issues among the explosions and gunfire.