There are at least 16 ways the pressure-cooker situation at the center of 16 Blocks could be defused, but most of those would negate the movie’s reason for being: to pair aging action star Bruce Willis with rising talent Mos Def in a claustrophobic thriller plot. That plot is a series of contrivances, absurdities and silly character traits all designed to prop up a rickety premise, in which a boozy New York City detective (Willis) is assigned to escort a petty criminal (Def) from his jail cell to a nearby courthouse (a passel of maniacal, dirty cops stand in the way).
