The two faces of Bruce Willis: A cheesy Hollywood catchphrase ham who mugged for the "Die Hard" films, and a smart and textured character actor who wisely underplayed a memorable role in "The Sixth Sense."

So, which Willis shows up in "16 Blocks"?

		'16 Blocks' Rating: PG-13 for violence, intense sequences of action, and some strong language. Starring: Bruce Willis, Mos Def. Director: Richard Donner. Family Film Guide: '16 Blocks' '16 Blocks' web site

NYPD Detective Jack Mosley is rumpled and unshaven, limping from an unidentified injury as a loose tie lists across his potbelly. Showing up late at a crime scene, he's given the flunky task of baby-sitting the place until the forensics team arrives. He ignores the lifeless body on the floor, fumbling through the kitchen cabinets to steal a bottle of anything hard. The scene has nothing to do with the rest of the story, but it sets up Mosley as a tired, bitter, alcoholic cop and makes it crystal clear that the muscle-bound, action-adventure superstar wasn't invited to this picture.

Back at the police station, Mosley tries to wiggle out of another assignment devoid of great responsibility. A small-time thief has a court date in two hours; Mosley has to drive him 16 city blocks to the courthouse.

In the harrowing 118 minutes that follow, Mosley will face the most important moral decisions of his life and will end or change the lives of nearly everyone around him. His prisoner will grow in importance from a minor irritant to a pivotal and inspirational figure, and every cop in New York will do their best to kill them both.

Screenwriter Richard Wenk's mismatched-buddies script could have been played up as another Willis action-adventure vehicle. But director Richard Donner, who pumped up the action in two "Superman" films and all four "Lethal Weapons," went this time for gritty realism and got it. "16 Blocks" is an adrenaline rush of continuous, contiguous escape scenes as Detective Mosley moves his babbling prisoner, who's about to testify against the worst of New York's finest, block by block, stairwell by stairwell, rooftop by rooftop, toward the courthouse.

A washed-up cop protecting a criminal from the police? Sound familiar?

Think Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke in "The Gauntlet."

Cop vs. cop in a bloody internal affairs face-off?

Think "Serpico," "Prince of the City" and "Cop Land."

Sure, Wenk pickpockets freely from all of the above, but he's acquitted of all charges. It's a good script in which characters are developed as layers of truth are stripped away, ultimately revealing a great plot twist.

Hip-hopper Mos Def is completely convincing as an annoyingly quirky petty criminal with big dreams and a sunny ray of optimism that sheds light all over Willis' dour cop.

David Morse is flawless as a flawed police detective with a vested interest in keeping the con from testifying.

Good guys? Bad guys? It's all relative in story that's as much about setting a moral compass as it is about smart character development and shoot-'em-up, crash-'em-up action.