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Avg. Critic Score: 63 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 Iffy for 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 83
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    A helluva lot happens in 16 Blocks - an outrageous amount, really, along with a coda that deposits the audience squarely at a movieland finale. Who knew that looking both ways before crossing is where the real action is? Read full review

  • 80
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Crust

    A ticking clock scenario and a terrific performance by Willis as an alcoholic NYPD detective make up for the film's occasional missteps and some strange pop culture references. Read full review

  • 80
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    Mr. Willis has always been an acquired taste, but for those who did acquire that taste, riding shotgun on his good times and bad, it's a pleasure to see him doing what comes naturally. Read full review

  • 75
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    The bedrock of the plot is the dogged determination of the Bruce Willis character. Jack may be middle-aged, he may be tired, he may be balding, he may be a drunk, but if he's played by Bruce Willis you don't want to bet against him. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Sheri Linden

    Although much of the plot defies credulity, Richard Donner directs the odd-couple action drama with a nimble facility that draws viewers in. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Robert Koehler

    Not that it ever rises to the level of Sidney Lumet's Gotham police pics ("Serpico," "Prince of the City"), but 16 Blocks does raise the banner for the tradition of the textured urban cop drama, spurred by action but made substantial by characters at crossroads. Read full review

  • 63
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Until Richard Wenk's script drives the characters into a brick wall of pukey sentiment, it's a wild ride. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    Another urban action thriller that's better than some, worse than most and so forgettable that it's possible to forget it while watching it? Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Willis' performance mystifies, while Mos Def's mesmerizes. Read full review

  • 30
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    It seems such a waste to go onto the actual streets of Lower Manhattan and shoot a movie this stupid. Think of the money, the logistics, the interruptions in the city's life -- all that trouble for what? For this? For shame. Read full review

View more reviews for 16 Blocks on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ Alcoholic cop in action; not for younger kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that the film includes scenes of explicit violence, involving shooting, explosions, and fistfights, much of it in slow motion to emphasize blood spurting or faces grimacing and initiated by policemen trying to kill a witness to a corrupt cop's case. The protagonist is a severe alcoholic, so he spends much of the first third of the movie drinking, looking for a drink, or showing signs of needing a drink (shaking and coughing, with sickly pallor). Characters use the f-word a couple of times (one muffled), as well as other curse words (s-word, n-word).
  • Families can talk about alcoholism. How does the movie suggest that Jack's alcoholism is a symptom of his moral/emotional malaise? How does his briefly rendered relationship with his sister indicate his troubled past and onetime courage and outrage? How does the bonding between Jack and Eddie help both cop and the thief to overcome their sense of failure and corruption?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Corrupt cops, thuggish murderers, and shifty types are prevalent.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Explosions, shootings and shoot-outs, fistfights, chase scenes; these are generic action scenes, using frequent slow motion and showing little emotional consequence (bodies falling and vehicles exploding), except when Eddie is shot and Jack tends to his bloody wound.
  • sex false0 Sex: Not an issue
  • language false3 Language: A couple of f-words, s-word, "hell," "ass," "bitch," one use of n-word by a black character.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Alcohol brands visible.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Alcoholic cop drinks repeatedly through the first third of the film; in a bar, anonymous characters have drinks before them; on the sidewalk, background character smokes.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

3.0

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