Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) is an alcoholic and burned-out NYPD detective. Mosley is typically given assignments that nobody else in the department wants to do. After working all night, his lieutenant Kincaid orders him to escort Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) to testify in front of a grand jury before 10 a.m. Eddie has to be taken from jail to the courthouse, 16 Blocks away to testify on a police corruption case. Bunker tries to be friendly with Mosley, telling him of his aspirations to move to Seattle and open a bakery with his sister who he has never met, but Mosley is uninterested and insists on stopping at a liquor store. Jack stops at a liquor store on the way; a gunman (Danny Lima) ambushes the car with Eddie inside. Jack kills the gunman and runs over the gunman's partner (Nick Alachiotis). They go to Jack's regular bar, and he kicks everybody out. His call for backup brings Jack's ex-partner, Frank Nugent (David Morse), and several other cops. The officers include Captain Dan Gruber (Casey Sander), Detective Jimmy Mulvey (Cylk Cozart), Detective Bobby Torres (David Zayas), Detective Jerry Shue (Robert Racki), Detective Touhey (Patrick Garrow), Detective Kaller (Sasha Roiz), Detective Ortiz (Conrad Pla), Detective Edward Maldonado (Hechter Ubarry), Deputy Commissioner Wagner (Richard Fitzpatrick), Sergeant Cannova (Robert Clohessy), Lieutenant Kincaid (Scott McCord) and others. Frank arrives at the bar and wants Mosley to go home, promising him that he will "take care" of Eddie. Mosley senses something is off and decides to stay put. Frank explains that Eddie is about to testify against Jerry, who will testify against the other cops to save himself. Nugent admits that he is one of the officers named in the corruption case, and that out of loyalty, Mosley should let him kill him. Frank takes Jack's gun and gives it to Eddie. Forced, Eddie fires the gun but before his execution Jack uses the bar's shotgun and cripples the cop who was about to shoot Eddie. Jack and Eddie run out the back door. It is 8:25 AM. If Eddie is even 1 minute late, his testimony will not matter. Eddie tells Mosley that he saw Jerry threaten a witness and put a gun in his mouth, while threatening his mother that her boy will be killed if he testifies. Jack retrieves his spare handgun from his sister Dianne's (Jenna Stern) apartment and disables one of the cops searching for him. Jack learns that the police have already approached her about his activities earlier that day Continuing the escort Frank's men chase Jack and Eddie; they escape behind a barricaded steel door but find Frank waiting. Trapped, they try to flee using a broken elevator. Jack and Frank trade shots while discussing old memories. Frank tries to convince Jack it is not worth protecting Eddie. At the last second the elevator starts to work; Jack and Eddie ride it up and leave out the front door. Jack and Eddie enter an apartment building. Eddie knocks on random doors, finally an old Asian man lets them in. Frank's team searches the building floor to floor. In the apartment, Eddie changes clothes and describes his dream of opening a bakery. Jack calls the Assistant District Attorney MacDonald (Brenda Pressley) and tells her the address and room number (but purposefully gives the wrong apartment number); she sends more cops. Frank receives Jack's location from a mole but as his men break in, they realize it is the wrong apartment. Jack walks down the stairs but finds Frank waiting. Jack had Eddie take a different route and Eddie can sneak up behind Frank and hold him at gunpoint. They steal a bus with passengers; ESU shoots the tires immobilizing the bus and creating a hostage situation. Mosley is forced to treat the passengers as hostages. The bus crashes into a construction site and is soon surrounded by the ESU. Jack forces the passengers to cover the windows with newspaper. Before ESU storms the bus Jack releases all the passengers while Eddie sneaks off in the confusion. Jack remains on the bus, but the cops still believe that there are eight more hostages; the bus driver admits he was the last passenger. Mosley finds a tape recorder while going through the passenger's luggage and prepares a farewell message to Diane. To his surprise, Bunker returns to the bus; Nugent lines up a shot but is ordered to stand down. Bunker has come to see Mosley as an ally and wants to be there for him to see this through. Bunker's tenacity convinces Mosley to keep fighting, and he manages to drive the bus into an alley, temporarily blocking the police from following them. He finds that Bunker has been wounded, and calls Diane, a paramedic, for help. Diane treats Bunker and arranges for a second ambulance to take them to the hospital. Bunker learns that Mosley is also due to be named in the investigation but is willing to testify in his place. Mosley gets off a block from the courthouse and wishes Bunker luck with his bakery, instructing the paramedic to take Bunker to the Port Authority and put him on a bus for Seattle. Bunker promises to send him a cake on his birthday. Mosley continues to the courthouse, where the police and ESU are waiting for him as well as the district attorney. Entering through the underground garage, he again refuses Nugent's pleas not to testify. Nugent then orders one of his men to gun down Mosley as he enters, but an ESU sniper intercepts and kills the shooter. Mosley informs the district attorney that he will testify in exchange for Bunker having his record expunged, also revealing that he had recorded the conversation with Nugent in the garage on the tape recorder, which he submits as evidence. Two years later, Mosley is freed from prison. He celebrates his birthday with Diane and other friends and is surprised to find that the cake had indeed come from Bunker, who has been successful in starting "Eddie & Jack's Good Sign Bakery" in Seattle.
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