21 Bridges: Tense & Thrilling

Every year, a movie comes out that makes me particularly thrilled about living in New York. This year, that movie is 21 Bridges. The title is in reference to the 21 bridges around Manhattan (at one point this movie was called 17 Bridges, until someone went on Google Maps and found four more bridges - yeah I don't understand either), and the entire movie takes place over the course of one night when the NYPD is out hunting a pair of cop killers. It is tense, bloody, and riveting.

Chadwick Boseman plays Andre Davis, an NYPD detective with a personal vendetta. His father was a cop who was killed in the line of duty when Andre was thirteen, so he has become somewhat notorious for finding cop killers and bringing them to justice by any means necessary. When eight cops are killed at midnight by two robbers during a bungled cocaine heist in Brooklyn, Andre is dispatched to the scene of the crime and comes up with the audacious plan to shut down Manhattan for five hours. That's where the shooters are, and he's gonna get them before they can escape the island.

What follows is an elaborate game of cat-and-mouse where we get to watch Andre and Frankie Burns, the narcotics officer assigned to be his partner in this chase (played by the wonderful Sienna Miller), hunt down the two criminals as they try to sell their drugs and come up with an exit strategy. By the way, those two criminals are played by Stephan James and Taylor Kitsch, who are both excellent. James, in particular, is doing wonderful work as a man who has gotten in way over his head and is desperate to escape the tangled web of deceit that this robbery has uncovered. When he and Boseman are on screen together, there are so many layers to unpack and it's a powerful acting showcase.

The screenplay by Adam Mervis and Matthew Michael Carnahan is twisty and fun. There is nothing straightforward about this case and there are complications and red herrings that build up as Andre pursues his prey. Under Brian Kirk's direction, we get a fast-paced action thriller that is endlessly entertaining and feels like a throwback to when action movies could be fun escapism. I mean sure, there are a load of lessons you could take away about corruption, racism, the tenuous relationship between the NYPD and the citizens of New York. Or you could choose to ignore all that and happily stare at all the beautiful shots of New York at night or in the early dawn.

21 Bridges is a standard cop thriller elevated by dynamic performances from a great cast, a delicious script, and confident, no-nonsense direction. It is efficient, wrapping up in less than two hours, even though the elaborate plot makes you feel like you've watched a whole miniseries. It is exciting and compelling, a perfect way to enliven a boring weekend and remember how much fun it can be to go to the movies.