FOR A NEW YORK COP AND HIS WITNESS, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH JUST GOT VERY SHORT.Ā
Worn-out, disillusioned New York cop Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) is ordered to escort Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) to the courthouse… but the 16 block long trip turns out to be anything but routine. Director Richard Donner has been a reliable name in action movies for a long time, but this is his best film in fifteen years. Nothing too special really, just a very clever, well-focused update of something that looks like it was borrowed straight from the western genre. Exciting action scenes are accompanied by an engaging story about the difference between bad cops who want to change… and those who don’t. Willis is good as a very tired update of John McClane.
2006-U.S.-Germany. 102 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced byĀ Randall Emmett, Avi Lerner, Arnold Rifkin, John Thompson, Jim Van Wyck. Directed byĀ Richard Donner. Screenplay: Richard Wenk. Cast: Bruce Willis (Jack Mosley), Mos Def (Eddie Bunker), David Morse (Frank Nugent), Jenna Stern, Casey Sander, Cylk Cozart.
Trivia: Ludacris was allegedly considered for the part of Eddie.
Last word: “There were two endings and I completed them and tested them the same night; two theatres right next to each other. They’re almost exactly the same, and the decision in a strange way came from the finest producer I’ve ever worked for, Lauren Shuler-Donner, my wife. She said, ‘Look this is a guy who has suffered the last part of his life in the worst way. He’s got an opportunity now to go through a change. He’s tried everything. You care for him. You see him pulling and fighting for it. Give him a chance. Give the world a chance to see that there is an upside that you can change.’ And I love happy endings.” (Donner, MovieWeb)
