16 Blocks

Major Spoilers Ahead

Mos Def as Eddie Bunker and Bruce Willis as Jack Mosley

There’s a great, little movie with Bruce Willis that was released a decade ago.

    It’s about a dried-out, depressed alcoholic cop, who at the last minute is assigned to escort a witness to the courthouse for a 10am hearing. The witness is an ex-con who saw something go down with a dirty cop. The dirty cop and his friends are on the move to intercept the witness before he reaches the courthouse, so our alcoholic cop is now on the run to defend him. ‘turns out later that our alcoholic cop reveals that the witness he's protecting was going to take him down too with his testimony. Our cop has been a part of this rogue unit of police. In the end, our cop goes in to do the right thing.

    In the late 1990’s, my ex-girlfriend introduced me to the album, Black Star in a merciful attempt to expose me to a more authentic Hip Hop experience. I hadn't heard of Mos Def until then. The album was released in 1998 and it's a collaborative effort with rapper, Talib Kweli. Stand out songs are "Definition" and "Redefinition", “Brown Skin Lady” (The opening conversation is sampled from a film called, Chameleon Street) and “Thieves in the Night”. For the latter, please click play on the video above (Mos Def performs the second verse and harmonizes at the end).

    In 2002, Mos Def was cast as Booth in Topdog/Underdog, a play by Suzan-Lori Parks which he later won a joint award for with co-star Jeffrey Wright. I remember that it was a play I studied a long time as a struggling playwright. Bamboozled is a film by Spike Lee with a great concept, and the most memorable performance for me was by Mos Def. In 16 Blocks, he takes on the role of Eddie Bunker. It could've been played by another actor as a throw-away comedic role-- maybe with some tired, stray racial quips. But Mos elevates the seriousness of the story. He adopts a kind of nasal, talkative and fidgety stutter. It's just irritating enough to notice, but not enough to make us hate him. Mos Def doesn’t play him as a stereotype. There’s a sweetness in Eddie that's at just the right measure. There's a 4 part harmony type of thing going on which is what great actors do. I could see the layered thought, the honesty and respect. It's very exciting to see him working his craft. It’s one of the most wonderful performances to watch in this movie. The heart of this character-- his desire to do right is exhilarating! Roger Ebert called Mos Def's work, “a character performance completely unexpected in an action movie…”
 

Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright in the play, Topdog/Underdog

    16 Blocks wasn’t a big hit. Labels that are given by critics like, "chase movie" cheapens the overall quality. Detective Jack Mosley is a guy who is reaping what he has sown. It seems he's having a worse time with it than his colleagues. So it's a very good sign of a live conscience in him. One of the great scenes of this movie is when the dirty cops catch up to Jack and Eddie in the bar. They’re going to kill Eddie and make it look like self-defense. David Morse plays Frank Nugent. Frank chews his gum in smooth, small bites. His hand gestures are cool. He's running things. He leans over the bar in distracting banal guy talk with Jack. Then BAM! A shotgun hole takes out the leg of one of the cops about to kill Eddie. The cops are stunned and reaching for their weapons. Jack pulls the shotgun from behind the stand, cocks it and aims pointblank at Frank's head. The tense gaze between the two-- the wordless defiance. This is Jack's turning point. He's not down with the dirty anymore. It is one of the most exciting scenes of the movie! This is the crux of the movie. This is what quickens the righteous heart. There’s no unearned musical flourish and there’s no super cocky clichéd talk. He’s just a man who is dog gone tired of being a villain and he’s willing to die to do the right thing rather than stay the coward. And I love it. But I suspect most people didn't get it.

Eddie Bunker is caught at the bar

Not strong,
Only aggressive,
cause the power ain't directed
That's why, we are subjected to the will
of the oppressive

David Morse as Detective Frank Nugent

    Jack Mosley and Eddie Bunker are too unlikely people who have to team up for the right thing. It's a believable pursuit. There aren’t any gratuitous speeches about right and wrong, but it’s clear that both men want to change. They want to repent. For Jack, the cost is greater. It means losing respect, friends, his job and maybe his life. Bruce Willis is always a favorite; he plays the role with an aching manhood. His shame is great, but he still looks like a man. When I first saw the film, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Richard Donner had directed it. Richard Donner did directorial duties for Superman, The Goonies, and Lethal Weapon. I don’t think many ticket goers went home pondering too hard about the morality of the movie, but I like to think that it left enough of an impression to cause real reflection in people's lives. That comforts a vague disappointment I have about the box office.
 

    The second greatest scenes are at the end when Jack is confronted by Frank again in the underground courthouse parking lot. He's alone. Eddie is gone. Jack is going to testify. The exchange between these two is charged. Jack is going to do the right thing, but Frank isn't having it.

"He was gonna take down our case."

"He was somebody's husband."

"He was gonna take down our case!"

"He was somebody's father."

"He was gonna take down our case. What were we supposed to do?!"

"If you wanted to, tell the truth."

"F*** THE TRUTH!!"

    I was on the bus going home last night and I remembered spotting Frank's mouth quiver when he screamed that line. I saw it for the first time a few nights ago. This may be hard to conceive, but I saw him as a little child. It's not a flowery statement and it doesn't do away with the lies and the murder, or the consequences he must face. But I had a gush of compassion in my heart. All that hard exterior gave way to a scared child trying not to cry. A man standing in a scary world without someone to help him and being expected to do the right thing. I saw him the way God sees everyone of us. I saw him-- and people like him-- as lost, messed up folks who God wants to forgive, clean up and change. It made me think differently on the bus about my own enemies. Personally, I know that's not a passing thing. A struggle, but not a passing thing.

Not strong
Only aggressive
Not free
We only licensed
Not compassionate, only polite
Now who the nicest?
Not good but well behaved
Chasin' after death
So we can call ourselves brave?
Still livin' like mental slaves

Manchester by the Sea

Michelle Williams as Randi and Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler

    There are different ways that people resign themselves to the horror of the way life happens to them. It's a basic human thing everywhere. People generally pick a corner and adopt a life view. They gather around people that feel the same way. Casey Affleck plays Lee Chandler in Manchester by the Sea. He's a quiet and reserved janitor living in his corner. He left Manchester for Boston to escape the reminder of how his children died. But his brother has a heart attack and names him the guardian of his son, Patrick (Lucas Hedges). Now, a delayed funeral and brotherly duty keeps him bound in Manchester longer than he wants to be there.

     I came into Manchester by the Sea 20 minutes late. The movie resonates with me, though it was much easier to appreciate it after the credits finished. The Oscar nods are deserving, I think. Lee is like a wounded animal that keeps getting bumped and knocked by people in a crowded Times Square street. He doesn’t snarl, he just kinda limps on with his tail between his legs. Lee is not an abusive guy. In fact, he’s an extraordinarily patient guy. That's the aspect about this character that makes his wound easier to listen past for 2 1/2 hours. In one scene, Patrick and his friends are being loud and obnoxious in the next room. You can almost feel how this company grates on Lee. Like clanging cymbals. But mostly, he overlooks his nephew’s irritations. There is so little to nourish Lee. There was no life or healing in the words of his world. I know most people have no problem with the profanity in the movie, but it made the character’s suffering harder for me. I couldn't help but note how the characters around him were all medicating in their corners too. It made me desire their joy. But still, it's the hint of courage in Lee that resonates with me. I think now that it was a humility that was in slow bloom in the wasteland of his life. If he really was brought to ruin, I wonder if he would’ve been as long-suffering as he was. When he runs into his ex-wife Randi (Michelle Williams) and she seemingly wants to reconcile with him. He stops short. On the night his house burned down, Lee was high and his actions led to it being engulfed in fierce flames with his children inside. She cursed him for it. He has a chance to curse her back. He doesn't. I think he might've been trying to protect her. That kind of grace only comes from God. I don't know how to explain the mechanics of that. Clearly, he was a man who didn't place very much faith in God.   

  

Lucas Hedges as Patrick

     But I still wondered at how people raved about this film. It pulsates with sadness. I thought of what God has to say about darkness. My mind raced back to films like Leaving Las Vegas or even The Crossing Guard-- all really great stories about mournful humanity seeking resolution. Why was this such a big film? I think, in part it's an embrace of death. It's in our culture. We can be very masochistic. We can take such pride in our pain and make it identity. Even the most strong can refuse to let go for the sake of health and the peace of loved ones. Not really because one can't. But because there are those who deep down know they would lose their perceived self-importance. That is the pride that kills over and over. In our day and age of picking corners and of choosing gods that suit us, we have learned to celebrate an ill choice and call it good. It's like a silent atom bomb that even kills generations later. We've stopped teaching our children to reject that. The people around Lee Chandler are all pleasant smiles and gestures, but for many of them it's just a cover-up. 

Jack Nicholson in The Crossing Guard

    On the other hand, there is the worthy part of these kind of movies that benefits mankind. It's the catharsis. The honesty of how these characters are played and how it does something for the aching souls of those who see it. How they can see themselves and even in some cases decide to make a change. That’s valid too. I’m not implying that Kenneth Lonergan, the writer and director of the film should’ve injected inspiration and light for a movement toward restorative health. You can’t force that. Even God has perfect timing. There's hope, I think. I think that it's worthwhile to note what could be hope in how Lee responds to the people around him. He’s just trying to live and I think he inadvertently finds the first buds of humility. Humility is not something you learn from a book. Humility in pretense gives off a bad smell. Humility is serving and loving someone else more than yourself. It’s ordained and driven by the fingerprint of God. It's rare and the cost is always huge. 

Elisabeth Shue and Nicholas Cage in
Leaving Las Vegas

    The following is a PBS covered film review that gives an interview with Kenneth Lonergan: