Unfolding almost in real time, 16 Blocks dusts off the plot of the 1977 Clint Eastwood chase thriller The Gauntlet in order to enact an exhilarating game of cat and mouse across New York City.

The mice are a grizzled detective and his fast-talking prisoner; the hunters are the city's corrupt cops, who will stop at nothing to conceal their guilt, even if it means executing one of their own.

Director Richard Donner, who was responsible for the Lethal Weapon series, directs the action with his customary aplomb, including a chase on a bus with punctured tyres and a shoot-out in a dingy apartment block.

Where 16 Blocks excels, however, is the decision to cast Bruce Willis against type as an overweight, sodden detective who has almost given up on life He staggers around wheezing, he has a gammy leg, and has no social skills.

By contrast, Mos Def is 5ft 10in of verbal diarrhoea whose squeaky voice suggests a man who has been inhaling helium balloons since birth.

Barely awake and desperate to go home and sleep off a hangover, grizzled NYPD detective Jack Mosley (Willis) is far from pleased when he is unexpectedly assigned babysitting duties. Petty criminal Eddie Bunker (Def) is due to testify at 10am before a grand jury and someone needs to escort him the 16 blocks from lock-up to the courthouse.

Stopping off to pick up breakfast (a bottle of liquor), Jack is shocked when two assassins attempt to kill his prisoner - but things soon get a lot worse.

Written by Richard Wenk, 16 Blocks slowly gains dramatic momentum then sustains the tension until the closing frames.