Father Geek here, when I saw a trailer for this I got real rebbed up. An old friend and long time writer on this site had written an ass-kicking script that I loved called 15 MINUTES in the early 1990's about criminals, cops, and radio shock jocks all trying desperately to get their "15 minutes" of Warhol predicted fame any way they could. However, sadly, this movie isn't that script. It has the same name and the same basic premise, but thats it, nothing else matches up except that they both appear to be action-packed crime dramas. Whoever put up the money for this one got short changed... the other "15 Minutes" had a hell of alot more punch for the dollar.
I saw the Robert DeNiro, Ed Burns movie, "15 Minutes."
I didn't post anything on it, but when I read your rundown of movies for 2001, you mentioned you'd heard nothing about it. The film, directed by the man who gave us "Two Days in the Valley", is a mixed bag. It's slow to get going, hits it's stride for about an hour, then falls apart in a sea of contrivances by the end.
The film begins promisingly with two Eastern European tough guys entering the United States to collect money from a pal now living in Manhattan. On the way to the pal's house, one of the Euro Tough Guys buys a handheld video camera from an electronic store in Times Square. As it turns out, the pal has squandered the money and is dispatched (and videotaped. How topical!) by these two tough guys. In order to hide their crime, they set fire to the apartment.
Enter DeNiro and Burns. DeNiro plays a media-whore New York detective. He's on the cover of the New York Post, he's always being interviewed on TV and his latest bust is always a local news event. He arrives at the crime scene because it's a homocide. Enter Ed Burns, who's a fire investigator. He arrives at the scene because of arson. Although Burns has no respect for the media loving DeNiro, and the two get territorial about who's got jurisdiction, they reluctantly team up to solve the case, with DeNiro teaching Burns a lesson or two on how to play the media.
Meanwhile, the two bad guys hole up in some dingy Manhattan apartment where they eventually come to the realization that in America, you can get away with any crime if you just say "I'm sorry", preferrably in primetime, during sweeps and on a big network. Emboldened by this, they begin a real crime spree, blowing away the various witnesses to their original murder/arson and in general having lots of illegal fun. Their plan is to do their evil business, get caught, then play the media (and the public) like a fiddle, plea insanity and go free.
Kelsey Grammer plays the anchor of a tabloid news program following the story, who tries to cash in on the bad guys' plan in his own (equally insidious) way: big ratings.
The film takes a very unexpected turn about 2/3 of the way through (which I won't tell you, so you can keep reading), which gave it the emotion and momentum that it was steadily losing.
In the last half-hour, the film spins out of control, with the story taking ridiculous turns just so the filmmakers can make their topical point. The climax, near the courthouse, by the water is bad "Delvecchio."
"15 Minutes" is one of those films that grabbed onto a good idea, but somehow lost it, even if enough of the original inspiration remains to gleen some enjoyment from it. For about an hour, the film really gets going and DeNiro, being DeNiro, is just well, God damn DeNiro. Even when he's not required to try very hard, I'll take it. Melina Kanakaredes (hey man, at least I tried to spell it right) plays DeNiro's girlfriend and Star Trek's Avery Brooks hams it up annoyingly as a cop. "15 Minutes" has something to say, but in wrapping in a typical buddy-cop bow, it only occassionally hits home.
Sign me, Pelham123
