Some people will kill for their 15 minutes… now, two of New York's finest must stop the madness.
A seasoned homicide detective (Robert DeNiro) teams up with a young arson investigator (Edward Burns) to hunt down headline-hungry killers who dare to videotape their crimes.
(17 votes)
2.
Set in a tabloid world of murder and mayhem, 15 MINUTES is a fast-paced, electrifying thriller that takes on modern America's tawdry fascination with crime. Arson investigator Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns) tags along with celebrity cop Eddie Flemming (Robert DeNiro) to investigate a double murder committed by a pair of Eastern European criminals, Emil and Oleg, who have come to America seeking money owed them by an old partner. As the crimes continue, the duo decide to escape prosecution by videotaping their crimes (Oleg dubs himself "Frank Capra")--an act that seems so crazy that it would allow them to plead insanity. With this out as a safeguard, they then plan to make millions by selling their footage to a sleazy journalist (Kelsey Grammar). But as the brutality of the crimes intensifies, Eddie and Jordy are pushed to the limits of the law and beyond in their search for justice.
Director John Herzfeld (2 DAYS IN THE VALLEY) uses lurid cinematography and extreme characters to make a scathing, yet boldly funny, point about guilt and responsibility in modern, media-obsessed America. Actor Karel Roden (Emil) is a leading Czech stage actor, while newcomer Oleg Taktarov (Oleg) is a former Ultimate Fighting Champion from Russia.
(16 votes)
3.
15 Minutes wants to be provocative, but it exists in an alternate reality where rules of logic and credibility no longer apply. In his underrated film 2 Days in the Valley, writer-director John Herzfeld wryly exposed the underbelly of California's San Fernando Valley, but in the artificial New York City of 15 Minutes, he attempts a timely mixture of satire and social commentary that's only marginally convincing. Herzfeld's premise is both vivid and valid in addressing the deterioration of morals in American mass media, but in exploring the dark side of fame, the last few minutes of Taxi Driver have more impact than this entire movie.
Robert De Niro stars as Eddie Flemming, a hotshot homicide detective whose current double-murder case teams him with arson investigator Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns). Their investigation leads to a pair of Eastern European nut-jobs (one Czech, one Russian) who've embarked on an impromptu killing spree--all captured on video by the Russian, who fancies himself an auteur of the American dream. In a pileup of contrivances, a reporter (Melina Kanakaredes) is also Eddie's girlfriend, and a tabloid TV host (Kelsey Grammer) seeks the killers' video with the scruples of Adolf Hitler. Blink and you'll miss Charlize Theron in a throwaway role, but that's nothing compared to the killing of a major character--a scene devoid of emotion that's more grist for the media mill. With appalling bloodlust, 15 Minutes sheds a sickening light on America's twisted character, but instead of illuminating, it only darkens the gloom. --Jeff Shannon
(16 votes)
4.
In an age when almost anyone can be famous for fifteen minutes, what does fame mean? How far will people go to get it - and what are its rewards? When video and live television give us ringside seats to almost any event, what can or should we show? What are we willing to watch? How do we feel about culture's seemingly insatiable appetite for calamity, tragedy and horrific crime? What ultimately is the price we pay for this indulgence?
From the award-winning director of Don King: Only in America and 2 Days in the Valley comes an action thriller laced with dark humor and social commentary about fame in our times, Fifteen Minutes.
Robert De Niro and Edward Burns star in writer-producer-director John Herzfeld's multi-media journey through a hot summer in New York City when an arson investigator (Burns) must team with a famous homicide detective (De Niro) to track a murderer.
(15 votes)
5.
Never before in history have fame and the law been so closely, and so dangerously, aligned. With today's insatiable demand for high-octane television news, everyone from criminals and cops to lawyers and politicians has joined the ranks of attention-grabbing celebrities and hype generators. Murderers hire spin doctors and share their confessions in prime time. Meanwhile, everyone from thieving low-lives to the President's lawyers vie for their shot at the limelight. Crime, tragedy, chaos: we might fear them, but there's no denying that in today's world, they bring ratings, money and power.
So just how far will society's most desperate people go in order to get their "fifteen minutes"? And just how willing is the public to watch?
(15 votes)
6.
Fifteen Minutes partners Robert De Niro and Saving Private Ryan's Edward Burns in a thriller satire on America's "reality TV" industry. De Niro plays celebrity detective Eddie Fleming, who must reluctantly work with arson investigator Jordy Warsaw (Burns) when a grisly fire is discovered to conceal a murder. This is the work of Emil (Karel Roden) and Oleg (Oleg Taktarov), East European psychos bent on a maniacal spree of killings. All of these are videotaped by Emil, who renames himself after his hero Frank Capra, in a perverse tribute to the US of A, where "no one is responsible for what they do!". Soon the duo decide to sell their footage to Kelsey Grammer's creepily shameless frontline TV journalist. As a pair of loons whose scariness is just the right side of cardboard villainy, Roden and Taktarov steal the movie as well as their camcorder. However, the central theme of voyeurism and video murder was dealt with far more effectively in the 1992 Belgian movie Man Bites Dog and, while the action tears along in explosive fashion, it does so at the expense of both plausibility and the anti-media satire, which seems hitched crudely onto the bumper of what is essentially a satisfying but conventional blockbuster thriller. --David Stubbs
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