# 15 Minutes (2001)

### reviewed by
Laura Clifford

    15 MINUTES
    ----------

When arson investigator Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns, "Saving Private Ryan") arrives at a burned out NYC apartment, he finds celebrity cop Eddie Flemming (Robert DeNiro) intruding on his crime scene. The two end up joining forces on the trail of fame seeking killers and the reluctant witness to their crime in writer/director John Herzfeld's ("2 Days in the Valley") "15 Minutes."

Andy Warhol's long lived quote is hammered down from every angle in this unsubtle but entertaining satire. We're introduced to Flemming as the repeat subject of a Hard Copy-like news program hosted by Robert Hawkins (Kelsey Grammer, TV's "Frasier"), currently battling his producer (Kim Cattrall) to maintain his lurid content. Hawkins is routinely tipped by his buddy Eddie to arrive on the scene just as Flemming is about to make arrests.

Meanwhile, new US arrivals Oleg Razgul, (Oleg Taktarov, "Air Force One") a Russian and Emil Slovak, (Karel Roden) his slow witted Czech buddy, make their way to their former partner's home for their share of stolen cash. When Oleg discovers he's spent time in a Russian prison for nothing, he brutally murders his old friend and his wife. Emil, who's stolen a digital video camera on the way there, videotapes the event. They discover too late that their crime has been witnessed by illegal alien Daphne (Vera Farmiga, "The Opportunists"), but she leaves her purse, including identification, behind. Ensconsed in a seedy hotel, Oleg calls Worldwide Escorts and asks for a Czech girl. When he doesn't get Daphne, the duo tape their third murder. Television introduces them to Hawkins, Flemming and his most famous case. Stephen Geller is a killer who's made a fortune from his crime because he got off on an insanity defense. Voila - the psychopath and aspiring film director now have a plan. 'I love America - no one's responsible for what they do.' gurgles Oleg.

Herzeld's script is a bit psychotic itself, zigzagging from satire to thriller, from comedy to excessively gruesome violence. The whole thing comes off as wildly over the top, but it's a fun ride, largely due to its heroic partners' bantering and its villainous partners' tomfoolery. Dual romances are less successful, with Flemming about to propose to television reporter Nicolette (Melina Kanakaredes, TV's "Providence") while Jordy makes eyes at forbidden witness Daphne. Thriller aspects are well done, with a top notch street chase scene admist midtown traffic and a tense fire entrapment which pushes Jordy's expertise to the limit. Herzeld has one surprise up his sleeve that makes one doubt its reality even after the fact, although he uses cheap cinematic tricks to set it up.

The cast is terrific with DeNiro utterly believable as a detective who works the fame game. Burns is fine as the laid back everyman who first loses, then wins, at the hands of the media. Grammer is pitch perfect as the sleezy tabloid host while Kanakaredes puts a worthier face on the TV news profession. Utterly diabolical, Oleg Taktarov suggests a young Gary Oldman, joyfully brutal, completely immoral. Roden plays auteur Emil like a wide-eyed puppy dog lapping at Oleg's heels, funny yet chilling at the same time.

Cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier ("Nurse Betty") uses a full range of visual mediums to capture the media and movie obsessed characters. Original music by Anthony Marinelli and J. Peter Robinson stirringly underscores the action. Production design by Mayne Berke features very realistic looking arson sets.

    B

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