# 15 Minutes (2001)

### reviewed by
Bob Bloom

15 Minutes (2001). Starring Robert De Niro, Edward Burns, Kelsey Grammer, Avery Brooks, Melina Kanakaredes, Karel Roden and Oleg Taktarov. Written and directed by John Herzfeld. Rated R.

Supposedly buried deep within 15 Minutes is some profound statement about our society, its relationship with the media and how said media allows us to abrogate our responsibilities for our actions.

Or 15 Minutes could just be another cynical, exploitive melodrama out to score a quick buck by offering audiences what they crave ó violence and sex ó or at least female nudity.

Actually 15 Minutes is an amalgamation of both. It damns tabloid journalism ó especially those reality-based news shows such as Hard Copy and Inside Edition ó while simultaneously allowing the audience to be voyeurs to some rather gruesome proceedings.

15 Minutes is fascinating in a cheesy and sleazy way. This loud, crass thriller sucks you into the action, and you discover a kernel of enjoyment in this overblown drama. Afterward, though, your conscience berates you indulging yourself in such low-fare, obvious melodramatics.

15 Minutes tries to take the high-road approach of foisting itself off as an examination of our culture's cravings for celebrities ó to the point that we don't care if the people shown on camera are cops or killers. If they're on TV, they're famous, which gives them to impetus to try to get away with murder.

But this is only window dressing, because ó at its core ó 15 Minutes is nothing more than your standard-fare cops hunting down killers B-movie plot.

Some of the plot points are so dumb that you wonder how screenwriter-director John Herzfeld was allowed to keep them in his script.

For example, the two lowlife criminals are Eastern European refugees. One is a movie-crazy Czech, the other an ex-con from Russia, newly released from prison.

They come to the United States to collect money from an old pal with whom they pulled a job in the old country. Which old country, we are never told, but it makes no difference.

From the outset these two goons, Emil Slovak (Karel Roden) and Oleg Razgul (Oleg Taktarov), should be setting off alarms. They do nothing but sweat. It pours off them like a sumo wrestler in a Turkish bath.

Plus, they look so shifty at customs, that the dimwit who allows them into the country, should be fired.

But, of course, they are passed through, so they can begin their murderous spree.

Representing the side of law and order is Detective Eddie Flemming (Robert De Niro), a media darling who breaks the big cases and who manages to always get his mug ó and his collars ó on a fast-paced tabloid TV show hosted by the smarmy Robert Hawkins (Kelsey Grammer).

Flemming is aided by fire marshal Jody Warsaw (Edward Burns), who gets involved in the case after our two slimebags torch a building to cover a crime.

All of this leads to a lot of spilled blood, gunfire, cursing and legal wranglings.

Of course, virtue triumphs in the end and the American way of life is preserved.

15 Minutes does offer one big shocker, but even that is not enough to elevate it from programmer status. The media, of course, is the scapegoat as well as the punching bag ó literally ó for the ills of society.

The performances are mixed. De Niro, who seems to be taking any kind of role and whatever he is offered, adds nothing to his canon. Here he relies on props ó a cigar, a two-headed quarter ó to create his character.

Burns seems to whine his every line. At times, he sounds like that Will Ferrell character on Saturday Night Live who cannot modulate his voice.

The acting honors here go to Roden and Taktarov as the two émigrés who try to live the American dream on their own terms. Taktarov, especially, is memorable as he carries around his little video camera filming everyone and everything he sees. Life ó and death ó to him are merely extensions of some cosmic movie in which he is vying for the final cut.

15 Minutes is a brutal excursion that may make you uncomfortable. But as a serious examination of the ills of the media and the cult of celebrity, it is laughable. So take it for what it is, a two-hour-plus game of cops and robbers played by some well-paid actors.

Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette. Bloom's reviews also can be found on the Web at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom

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