21 Bridges

Slick, engaging, but frustratingly implausible, ’21 Bridges’ is a serviceable enough action thriller that accomplishes two things…

#1) It provides a decent enough vehicle for star, Chadwick Boseman. Out of Wakanda and into the mean streets of NYC, this is his film. Period.

#2) It’s entertaining.

What it DOESN’T do is follow through on a really cool premise. This film is good….but man, it could’ve been SO much more.

Your standard police potboiler, ’21 Bridges’ features Boseman as Andre Davis, a police detective with a dark, dark past. A a child, his father…a patrol officer…was killed in the line of duty. As a result, Davis grows into a cop with a reputation who Gets Things Done. “We’ve got the right guy for the job,” is a statement uttered often, but sometimes it’s out of sarcasm, as Andre, on more than one occasion, has shot first and answered questions later.

Put in charge of an investigation involving the killing of eight police officers, Davis is on the trail of a couple of hoods (Taylor Kitsch and Stephan James) who gunned down the cops during a botched drug theft from a bar/restaurant in Brooklyn. In a bold move, he issues the closure of 21 bridges that connect Brooklyn to the mainland. The kicker? He has until morning to track down the bad guys or face the wrath of the mayor, the NYPD commissioner, and almost everyone else wearing a suit.

Again, it’s a beautiful set-up for what should be a pulse pounder. Unfortunately, and DESPITE a nice effort from director Brian Kirk (primarily known for his work on TV beauties like ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Luther’, ’21 Bridges’ is one good looking movie), the script doesn’t cash in on the hook; the killers are tracked down quickly, essentially soiling the ‘trapped-like-a-caged-rat-against-the-clock’ blueprint, and the whole project dissolves into a cookie cutter heist exercise where all is not as it seems.

Some decent supporting efforts are clocked in by Sienna Miller and the always dependable J.K. Simmons….but it doesn’t really matter. Again, it’s Boseman’s show. Give the guy a movie that would’ve taken advantage of the pitch, we’d have something – because he does bring it. ’21 Bridges’ survives, primarily due to his efforts…..but oh, what could’ve been.