16 Blocks

It sounds so simple; it’s obviously going to be a nightmare. Today’s assignment for boozy middle-aged NYPD detective Jack (Bruce Willis) is to escort motormouth prisoner Mos Def the short hop to appear before a grand jury whose term expires in two hours. En route, however, lurk Willis’s old partner (David Morse) and assorted corrupt colleagues with reasons of their own to stop the witness having his day in court. Will Jack stand idly by and let injustice prevail? Well, that’s what he usually does…

Contrived, but in a way redolent of vintage B-movies, this cannily sprung set-up powers all concerned through some sticky credibility glitches as director Richard Donner negotiates bustling Manhattan more nimbly than expected from someone who’s coasted too long on the ‘Lethal Weapon’ franchise. Although there’s as much cheesy over-emphasis as tension-ratcheting revelation, Mos Def’s cartoon-voiced potential fall-guy is disarmingly endearing, and Willis suggests renascent moral turmoil behind heavy-lidded eyes. Clunky, solid, enjoyable.