I want a look at the first draft. The first
one to
spit out of the laser printer. The one before the different coloured
pages, footer notes, and studio contact details on the cover sheet.
I’m laying a bet that 16 Blocks was the
second part of a much longer title – something like Die
Hard 4: 16 Blocks.
When
the hammer came down from FOX, John McClane could easily have scribbled
out and replaced by ‘Jack Mosley’, but what can’t be
expunged are those welcome character traits and the worn behaviour
– all indicating that this could very well be the gun-toting
Singlet-wearing savoir of the Nakatomi Plaza some 20 years prior.
Mosley
is a cop that’s been in the force way too long. He’s seen
it all. These days – and not unlike our boozy McClane – he
gets his only comfort in the bottle. The passion for his work went out
with commercial-free Pay TV. In fact, his passion for anything has
dissolved like a fast-acting aspirin. “Life is too long”,
he slurs.
If that’s not McClane…it should be. This
could have been the most realistic sequel to the 1988 John McTiernan
film to date. This is exactly how we’d imagine McClane to be now
– bitter, tired, boozy and about as fervent for the job as a cat
to gulp down an antibiotic.
But alas, 16 Blocks isn’t Die
Hard 4 - not officially anyway.
On
the other hand, Mosley is the perfect character for Willis to be
playing – whether it was originally written as McClane or not,
and I’ll guess we’ll never know? – at this stage of
his career anyway. Proving he’s far from narcissistic, Willis
sheds the good looks (he’s seemingly got a bit more weight on,
skips the wrinkle emulsion and adds a epoch moustache), the toned bod
and the sportsman manoeuvres to play, essentially, an old codger with a
gun. This guy is so far from enthused about his work – he
can’t even be bothered with the smart quips (very un-Willis like).
After
pulling an all-nighter, our worn NYC copper is asked to do one last job
before going home and hitting the sack: Escort a petty criminal Eddie
Bunker (Mr. Def), a star witness in a corruption trial, to the
courthouse a mere 16 blocks away. Easy done, especially since he has
two hours to do it.
Predictably, the bad guys come after Bunker,
hoping to nail him - and the copper that suddenly swears to protect him
– before he can get to the courthouse. Not helping the matter is
the fact that most of the rogues are coppers themselves (David Morse
plays the films key nasty, Mosley’s former partner, now as
corrupt as a wonky windows media file) so Mosley finds he’s got
no choice but to wear the tag of ‘Fugitive’ himself.
Set over the course of a couple of hours, director Richard Donner (Lethal
Weapon)
unleashes a tight, effective yarn that may use an old pattern for
backing, but holds up thanks to the character detail that’s been
shoved in between the bang bang.
Willis and, especially, Mos
Def, are wonderful in their parts. You believe their characters –
though Def’s ‘Mike Tyson’ like voice is sure to
irritate some – and that they’ve formed a bond by the
film’s end too. In a lot of these films, you don’t give a
hoot who dies or survives – and that includes the hero – so
it’s nice to be able to root for a couple of folks again.
What’s
also refreshing, is that Donner has added a chunk of dialogue scenes,
for us to get to know these characters, in between the
well-choreographed action sequences. And though the script is a bit
all-over-the-place at times – seemingly a compilation of the best
films from similar films, like Midnight Run, The
Gauntlet, Narrow Margin
and 3:10 to Yuma
- Donner still brings a certain solidness’ to it - a sturdiness
that would even put a nice glisten on the brownest turd. Not that this
latest Die Hard, ah sorry, 16
Blocks, ever was.
3.5 out
of 5
16
Blocks
Australian release: 20th July, 2006
Cast:David Zayas, David Sparrow, Bruce
Willis, Dante 'Mos Def' Smith, David Morse Director:Richard Donner
Website:Click
here.
