16 Blocks

Starring Bruce Willis, Mos Def, and David Morse.
Directed by Richard Donner.

SUMMARY
16 Blocks follows a down-and-out cop carrying out the mudane assignment of transferring a prisoner (Eddie) 16 blocks to the court house so that he can testify. What Jack does not know is that there are people who will stop at nothing to keep the testimony from taking place. What follows is a nearly-real-time story of cat-and-mouse with escapes, twists, and questions of the possibility of redemption

REVIEW
I expected this film to be somewhat formulaic, with a heroic cop and a slick-talking prisoner. This movie contains neither, and this works in its favor. While the questions about redemption are not new to the movie-watching experience, they are posed in a manner consistent with the story, and this works well. The movie does not try to do too much, and does not try to be something that it is not. The ending itself stays very consistent with the story, and will be found to be very satisfying (and much better than the alternate ending on the bonus features).

QUESTION FOR THOUGHT
It is obvious: Can people change? For those of us who follow Jesus, this is a very significant question. We can get in a rut and not see lifechange in ourselves of those around us, and we can start to see our lives as lackluster, and buy that the true Christian is "not perfect, just forgiven.

OVERALL
Movies, like many things in life, involve expectations. I went into a movie that I knew would receive no awards, and was not a blockbuster. I found a well-crafted story with engaging characters, and, by the way, a great bad guy. It exceeded my expectations, and, as previously stated, it did not try to do too much. It stayed within itself. It is not the kind of movie that people will remember five years from now, but it is certainly worth seeing, and Bruce Willis shows good range as an actor.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5.