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I always love it when I enjoy a movie more than I thought I would.  I popped in 16 BLOCKS with Bruce Willis, Mos Def and David Morse expecting a typical, cliched actioner.  While the plot itself contained action cliches, I found this one to be far more enjoyable than the typical, cookie cutter action film.

Why?

Probably the acting.  Willis has very little dialog in this movie and spends most of the time looking lost, confused and scared.  His presentation is a far cry from the DIE HARD characterization, and I have to admit this style suits him.  But the real shining star here is Def, who carries most of the dialog in the whole movie.

I have only seen him act in one other picture: HITCHKIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY.  I was surprised then, and I was surprised in 16 BLOCKS.  Def's character was initially annoying and very over-the-top cliche.  But after maybe five minutes of his shtick, you realize some of it is the character pushing that persona - he might have some depth he is covering up. Def's character is the agent of change for Willis and though talky, he does not do this by saying "you must change."  It's his presence, his very existence that thrust Willis into the story, but it is more than that, too.  Def's Eddie is simply a man trying to rise above himself in no grand way, just to be a better person.

I highly recommend 16 BLOCKS.  It has some shooting, some car wrecks and some tension.  But it has some depth, too, and that was the surprising part.  Also, I admited out loud that Mos Def is a fine, talented actor.

4.5 out of 5 from me.

The first time I saw it I though the second half, which is less action oriented, was weak. It does get much better with repeated viewings, they let you see the characters and thedrama are better than you may think in a first viewing.

A pleasant surprise, really. Between this, "Hostage" and the fourth "Die Hard" movie Willis has earned back my respect. And that applies to Richard Donner too. Honestly, I didn't think he still had it after all those bad movies he's been doing for the last ten years or so.

I like Bruce Willis as an actor and I am usually entertained by most of his films but I did like this one quite a bit. I expected much more action and as it turns out, I got caught up in it enough that the action didn't really matter a whole lot.