Special Delivery

See this one. 16 Blocks is an engaging film with enough action for the men out there, but not too much for the ladies. It makes an excellent date movie or “guys night out” flick because it is both entertaining and well made, yet still manages to provide some interesting questions for your dinner conversation. It is well worth the price of a sitter.

This new thriller from director Richard Donner stars Bruce Willis as Jack Mosley, a used-up cop with a checkered past and rapper-turned-actor Mos Def as Eddie Bunker—a career criminal with a big secret.

Jack is tired. He’s tired from staying up all night on a thankless assignment, he’s tired of his career, and he is tired of his weary life. He wants nothing more than to punch out and return home to his bed and his bottle. But fate and a traffic jam conspire to burden him with the unenviable task of escorting the fast-talking Eddie to the Grand Jury. Since the court house is only sixteen blocks away, this task shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes of Jack’s life. In fact, it takes much more.

On the way to the court house, they stop at a liquor store. Leaving his handcuffed prisoner in the back of the police car, Jack runs in for some breakfast. Upon returning, he discovers a would-be assassin poised to kill Eddie. To his own surprise, he shoots the killer and starts down the path to a new life.

It turns out Eddie is not just any old snitch; his “big secret” is very big indeed. He’s an eye-witness to a murder committed by a dirty cop—a dirty cop in whom other dirty cops have no confidence. Convinced that Eddie’s testimony will lead to their own indictment, they resolved to eliminate the problem. What they didn’t count on was Jack.

So far, there is nothing especially remarkable about this story. “Hey, Bruce Willis is playing another burnt-out cop—whoop-dee-doo. And, look, another singer wants to be an actor.” But what makes this story interesting—as opposed to Hostage, a Willis vehicle from 2005— is that, though 16 Blocks appears to be about a delivery, it is really a story of deliverance. Jack and Eddie are both slaves: Jack to alcohol and his nihilism; Eddie to his past and a corrupt system that will never let him forget he’s a criminal. The sixteen blocks they travel is more than the distance between the police station and the court house, it is the distance between slavery and freedom.

Eddie says repeatedly that “signs are everywhere” and indeed this is true. Some are obvious: Eddie wants to start a new life baking birthday cakes with his sister in Seattle. The birthday cake clearly symbolizes a new beginning.

Another obvious sign is the amount of money Eddie received as a windfall just before his arrest on trumped up charges. That amount is identical to what he needs to start his business. In Eddie’s mind, the exact correspondence is providential. Clearly, fortune smiled upon his cake-making venture. Or at least it did until his arrest.

The most interesting sign, however, is Jack himself. The name “Mosley” is suspiciously reminiscent of Moses—the used-up shepherd with a checkered past who reluctantly agreed to deliver the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt. In this modern day Exodus, Jack is the symbolic Moses. In fact, “Jack” is derived from the Hebrew name “Yochanan“(John), which means, “Yahweh is gracious”. Eddie did nothing to deserve Jack as his deliverer, but it is through Jack that Eddie makes it to his Promised Land.

The Promised Land is a fitting metaphor indeed, as the movie’s ultimate message is that people can change. This claim is made most clearly through Eddie, as he tells Jack about his birthday cake plans. During his previous stint in prison, Eddie vowed to change his life. Learning how to bake was the first step to this renewal. He opted to make birthday cakes after his release because “every day is somebody’s birthday”—an observation cynically shot down by Jack who tells Eddie that “life is too long.”

Jack’s desperate nihilism has kept him chained to his past, but Eddie’s profound determination to start anew ultimately forces Jack to reconsider. If Eddie can change his ways, in spite of all his past transgressions, than why can’t Jack also be reborn as a good man? Mosley confronts this issue with a new-found hope, and we see from his actions that he can indeed be reborn.

While you’re out on your date, have your kids watch their own Willis film: Disney’s The Kid. In this one, Bruce stars as a successful yet miserable image consultant whose life is dramatically changed after meeting a mysterious boy. The kid, who is really just a younger version of Bruce, accuses him of abandoning all of his childhood dreams. “So, I'm forty, I'm not married, I don't fight jets, and I don't have a dog? I grow up to be a loser.” This movie is a gentle yet firm reminder that it is never too late to become the person we’ve always wanted to be. And best of all, it’s absolutely fine for the kids to watch with the babysitter.

A Modest Proposal

I have done a lot of thinking about what kind of column needs to replace Father’s Flicks in the Catholic Sun. As a reader of the Catholic Sun, my primary complaint about Fr. Carpenter’s column was that he seemed very out of touch with the masses.

When I talk to my friends about what they look for in a movie review most of their requirements are very practical. They want to know things like: Is this movie going to justify the cost of a babysitter? Should I wait until it’s on video? Am I going to plead on my deathbed for the return of the two hours I invested in this film?

They really want to know about the quality of the movie, as well. Is this movie going to make my job of being a good Catholic person/parent/spouse easier or more difficult? Is the movie entertaining? Is the world a better place because of this movie?

With the exception of “Is the movie entertaining?” most film critics don’t address these questions. (And many of them don’t do much good on that question, either.) I propose to write a column that answers all of them, but also helps form Catholics into knowledgeable movie/media consumers.

Catholics and other Christians complain that a diet of today’s movies is bad for their spiritual health. This is undoubtedly true, but there is a reason for it. The movie industry, like the restaurant business, is about supply and demand. If nobody pays to eat what’s good for them, restaurants will serve what’s bad.

We’re being served leftover dramas, tasteless comedies, and saccharine romances for many reasons. First, we’re too apathetic or submissive to demand quality fare. Second, when something worthwhile is served, we don’t buy it—we send it back to the kitchen dismissively and keep on complaining. Third, mom and dad have let junior set the menu.

Can you imagine if parents let their kids do this in real life? “Let’s see, mom—I’ll have sugar flakes and pastry tarts for breakfast; corn chips and candy for lunch (with a cola chaser); and for dinner, dessert.”

Kids like cotton candy. And most modern movies are just that—easy to put out, nice to look at, and full of hot air. Cotton candy gives the illusion of substance and is definitely a crowd favorite, but too much of it will make your teeth and your tummy pop out.

So, what can we do to get cinematic food that is more healthful? To start with, care about what it is you are consuming—become a more discriminating moviegoer. Learn some movie grammar. There are differences between genres, and thus, different standards for judging different movies. For example, if the dilemma in Apollo 13 was resolved by reconfiguring the anti-matter transcombobulator, we’d think it was a terrible movie. If Captain Kirk did the same thing in a last-ditch effort to save white whales from the evil Ahabians, we’d think it was cool. This requires a bit of effort, but is well worth it.

Next, go see good movies on opening weekend. You may only be a foot soldier in the culture war, but even a foot soldier can vote with his feet. The movie industry bases most of its decisions on box office results from opening weekend. If a good movie opens well, you can bet movie big wigs are taking notice. If you want to see more movies like The Chronicles of Narnia or The Passion of the Christ, go to the movies. A lot. And buy them on DVD when they come out.

Don’t go to bad movies, but please, no belly-aching. Not every movie has to have Jesus rising from the dead to be a good movie. Not everyone in Hollywood is a liberal, money-grubbing, anti-Catholic conspirator. For the most part, it’s just business (there are glaring exceptions—Brokeback Mountain comes to mind). But remember: vote with your feet.

Finally, don’t let your kids see bad movies. Yes, I mean it in the sense of protect their innocence, but I also mean don’t let them watch movies that are poorly made or patronizing.

Movies are not going away. To be culturally literate you need to be able to talk intelligently about movies. You and your kids need to learn how to discern good from evil, quality from garbage. We can’t keep our kids in a fortress and preserve them from Hollywood’s influence—there are too many Trojan horses. But we can teach them to look a gift horse in the mouth. Your kids are the ones who will be making movies tomorrow. Feed them well and the industry can change.

In conclusion, I want to write about movies for the people. I hope to provide readers with practical advice about what movies to see and practical instruction on how to view movies. I’ll recommend new releases, rentals, movies to buy, and movies for families.