The new Bruce Willis chase thriller 16 Blocks plays out like Die Soft.
Physically, Jack Mosley is no John McClane, Willis's buff superhero cop from the Die Hard movies. Mosley has a pot belly, a limp, sad-sack eyes, an air of despondency and none of McClane's wry jibes.
Still, beneath that tired exterior beats the heart of a lion still ready to fight.
Mosley gets that chance when he is assigned to take petty criminal Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) from the police lockup to the courthouse to testify at a hearing on police corruption.
What he has to say could give him a get-out-of-jail card and put a dozen cops in the clink in his place.
There's a catch, which there has to be in a highly contrived thriller such as 16 Blocks.
Bunker has to be at the grand jury hearing by 10 a.m. or his testimony is toast.
The cops whose jobs and reputations are on the line do everything possible to make certain Bunker doesn't get to court on time.
That's why they make a boozehound like Mosley his guardian. They assume when the going gets rough, Mosley will get out.
Obviously Frank Nugent (David Morse) and his corrupt cohorts have never seen a Willis movie.
He's going to take on the entire New York police force if he has to -- and he has to.
Willis puts his heart and soul into Mosley, making him a tragic hero on the cusp of redemption.
It's great character acting and it's gracious acting because Willis steps back and lets Def steal the movie.
Def is a fast-talking, wise-cracking con man from the Eddie Murphy, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence school of sidekicks.
Even if you can't understand a good third of his dialogue, you know Def is funny because his face is working on overdrive as well as his mouth.
His job is to distract from all the plot inconsistencies and contrivances.
Mosley can keep in touch by cellphone with the district attorney at the hearings, but she can't turn around and tell the police commissioner that Mosley is the good guy and the cops ready to mow him down when he commandeers a packed city bus to protect Bunker are the villains.
None of it holds water, but Richard Donner directs with such confidence that he makes you buy into the nonsense.
He turns crowded streets, busy markets and decaying apartment blocks into small war zones and builds the tension slowly but steadily to a riveting climax.
16 Blocks is a solid film with strong performances and a gritty look but it feels more like an episode of 24, Law & Order or Prison Break than a feature film.
(This film is rated PG)
