Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sleeper movie will wake you into shuddering dread, December 6, 2004
15 Minutes is a horrifying and gritty peek into the injustice of the American legal system and also the news media. Wow, two digs in one film, how can you resist?
Emil Slovak, a Czech National (played by Karel Rodan), and his friend Oleg Razgul, a Russian National (played by Oleg Taktarov), who met in Prague, decide to travel to America, the land of opportunity. Emil wants to hunt down his old crime partner, who took all the money from the robbery he was jailed for, but Oleg is infatuated with American Cinema and wants be a filmmaker.
Immediately upon arriving, Oleg steals a video camera from a store and they are off to confront Emil's old partner and get their money back. But while Oleg films the event, Emil discovers that his portion of the money was already spent, and he kills his friend and friend's wife. Unfortunately, there was someone else watching the murder. Daphne Handlova had been staying with her friends, and fled the apartment after witnessing the murders. An illegal alien herself, she does not want for the police or the killers to find her, but leaves her purse behind in the apartment where Emil discovers who she is.
The apartment is burned to cover the bodies, "A Bohemian Barbeque" says Oleg, which calls in not only successful homicide detective Eddie Flemming (Robert De Niro), but Fire Marshal Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns) to the scene.
Emil and Oleg get away, but while Emil obsesses with finding Daphne, Oleg obsesses about filming their "Trip to America", killings and all. He believes he is making the greatest movie ever. They begin to watch New York's hot and exploitive news show called "Top Story", anchored by shady newsman/reporter Robert Hawkins (played expertly by Kelsey Grammer).
These three men, Flemming, Warsaw, and Hawkins, become irresistible targets to Emil and Oleg, the two Eastern-European psychopaths believing that controlling and taunting these famous men will give them the recognition they desire.
I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but suffice to say that there is a brutal murder scene where Flemming showcases just how tough a cop he is, and Hawkins will reveal himself as slimiest snake in the media industry, and Emil will learn enough to know that insanity can set him free even if he is caught.
There is action from beginning to end in this movie, a tight and somewhat confusing plot at times, some great acting from both the stars and the supporting cast (including a great character played by David Alan Grier). There is seediness and wretchedness and hopelessness, and an ending that makes the film come together quite nicely. If you are ready for a little brutal cop action in your life, give 15 Minutes a try. Enjoy!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Pure Hollywood trash, only its not in a good way, October 9, 2002
What seems like a good idea from the start, a satire of the way the media controls the public's perspective and influences our everyday lives, is made a routine shoot 'em up film devoid of any social commentary, no matter how hard it tries. 15 Minutes tries to be shocking and original, and I'll admit it has its' moments of brilliance, but fails in the long run to deliver anything substancial. Robert De Niro plays a celebrity cop in New York who is teamed up with an arson investigator played by Edward Burns. Both are on the trail of two foreign criminals who record their murder spree on a handheld video camera. There are some decent action scenes throughout, and De Niro and Burns try they're best to take they're roles with a grain of salt, but in the end 15 Minutes offers nothing special in anything and everything. The idea is intriguing, and I was genuinely shocked at some parts (anyone else who has seen the film knows the only part I am talking about that is truly shocking), but isn't delivered properly leading to an unrealistic climax and dumbed down ending. Kelsey Grammer also stars as a journalist who will do anything for a story, and look for David Allan Grier, Kim Catrall, and Charlize Theron in throwaway roles.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A finely-wrought satire., August 25, 2001
Hollywood has never satirized itself or the media quite so effectively as in "15 Minutes," a thriller which begins with a whimper and ends with a satisfying bang. Writer/director John Herzfeld's story of two men on a twisted journey to stardom, and the police and reporters who follow them, is an almost gripping reminder of just how bloated things can get once the media gets involved. Vacationing Europeans Emil (Karel Roden) and Oleg (Oleg Taktarov) have come for a hefty sum of money, but when they arrive at the apartment of Emil's friend Milos, and discover the money gone, they kill Milos and his wife, all the while videotaping the murder with a stolen camcorder. The one witness to the crime flees, later falling into the hands of homicide detective Eddie Flemming (Robert de Niro), and arson investigator Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns), who met at the scene of a fire set the make the murder appear as an accident. Since we know the identity of the killers, we know this is not a mystery thriller. Instead, the movie becomes a touch more interesting by introducing the media and all its propaganda tools. Oleg has a fascination for movie-making, and Emil's growing interest for the way in which Americans easily get away with murder and make money from it send the two of them on a murder rampage that gets the attention they want and the promise of money they desire. Watching the news and tabloid shows only fuels their goals, as does the promise of a hefty sum of money from Top Story anchor Robert Hawkins (Kelsey Grammer), in exchange for their videotapes for his show. A major key to making the issues this movie addresses work is a credible cast, something this film is never without. De Niro is cocky and witty as Eddie Flemming, the ideal inner-city cop, while Burns gives a unique performance as Jordy, who wants nothing more than to learn from Eddie the nuances of cracking a case. Grammer makes Hawkins an easily-contemptible character, while Roden and Taktarov fill their characters with fiendish insanity. In the interest of keeping the rest of the film a surprise, I shall go no further into plot details. The beginning is somewhat slow, almost to the point of causing the audience to lose interest. It takes its share of unexpected turns, some predictable, others you never see coming. The early death of a major character sent me reeling in my chair, while a secondary fire set by the two "visionaries" is predictable in its outcome (you know the second major character will make it at least until the end). But rather than pay too much attention to surprising us, "15 Minutes" is more concerned with giving us a rock-solid portrait of the circus that has become the media, and the evils that control it. Eddie sees his growing fame as a helping hand, but the film turns this fame against him, with chilling results. Hawkins is as despicable as reporters get, selling his soul to the devil for his share of the fame. Even Emil's lawyer, after his arrest, is more concerned with his share of the movie and book rights than he is about keeping the city safe from a dangerous felon. Perhaps the most effective scene, that which sums up everything that the film is trying to say, comes with the early death of that major character. As the two hold him hostage in his apartment, Emil reveals his master plan, his concoction of portraying himself and Oleg incompetent to stand trial, protecting them from criminal charges so they can go on to sell their story to screenwriters and authors. This particular moment poses the audience the question of what is more twisted: Emil's insane plans, or the fact that everything in his plan happens everyday in trial across the country. I enjoyed "15 Minutes" because I was able to connect with the issues it addressed, and the way in which it addressed them. The fact of the matter is, the movie is truthful in its portrayal of how the media can blow something way out of proportion, and then everyone wants something out of it. Halfway into the movie, a magazine vendor says, "It pays to be a killer in this country." Apparently so.
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