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FIFTEEN MINUTES Send This Review to a Friend
Action and satire are unevenly and jarringly mixed in this noisy, violent story about murderous thugs from Eastern Europe, one a film buff who learns the ways of achieving fame and sympathy in America. On the law and order side are Robert De Niro as tough, publicity-hungry New York homicide detective Eddie Flemming and Edward Burns as fire marshal Jordy Warsaw, who lives by decent standards but collaborates with Flemming on a case involving arson and murder.
The media bearing the brunt of the satire is a sleazy TV show that trades in sensationalism with Kelsey Grammer playing the exploiter. Karel Roden and Oleg Taktarov portray the newly-arrived foreigners, one of whom is convinced that videotaping his crimes will enable him to get the tape on television and become famous as a filmmaker.
The plot is more intelligent and complicated than this brief description, and the film maintains a certain frenzied momentum. De Niro is compelling to watch, but the tale becomes so obnoxious in its violence and the mocking of what makes people famous these days is so shrill that "Fifteen Minutes" leaves a sour aftertaste. A New Line Cinema release.
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