Rating: 
Summary: One of the best
Review: I really enjoyed this movie. The story is somewhat unique and the plots are unpredictable. Mr De Niro, as always, did a wonderful job as a pretty cool detective. It makes you mad watching how criminals can plan to get away with murder, and then satisfies your thirst for justice. IA review from a customer here is very wrong about the story: the 2 strangers from Russia do not originally intend to kill for fame. Instead, during fleeing from a murder scene, they get that idea from watching day-time TV, then think they might be able to get fame and money from being bad... They actually don't go out and just kill anybody for that reason, except for one person.
Rating: 
Summary: Honest Review
Review: I am keeping myself anonymous, for one reason. This movie was a waste of time and a lot people love DeNiro and Kelsey , myself included. But if the baby's ugly, then call it ugly. The whole romantic love scene between Deniro and his girlfriend, get a grip HollyWood. If a young man was dating an older lady would that be cool?, of course, but HollyWood has somehow lost touch with the real world. Let me start at the begining, and tell you what I liked. The screen play had great potential, but the director let me down, I didn't like Contact, so why add this movie to my collection?.. I did the like the acting and the climatic build-up, but of course only to be let down by a plot that has been beating down to no end. We all know reporters, well most of them, will do anything for a headline and a shot at fame. I am sick and tired of our law enforcement men and women in blue being made out to look like idiots with a badge. A few clips could have been cut out altogether. Burns takes this women back to her place and your led to believe something will happen, not!(side note: fellas She's fine) and the scene with him taking the bad guy back to the building and roughing him up, what was that all about.. and if that wasn't bad enough you have the two bad guys arguing in a restaurant full of people and not a soul in there thinks to use their cell phone to call the police. HollyWood needs to get a grip and stay true to form make it as realistic as possible. Yeah, I know it's a movie, but we Americans are not that dumb. If you want to waste ... on the DVD, go ahead. Take my advice spend the extra ... dollars and buy 3000 miles to Graceland and have a nice weekend Yours Truly.. a.k.a the Real Critic
Rating: 
Summary: Unconvincing and Illogical
Review: I rented this movie to watch with two friends of mine, mostly because Robert DeNiro is in it, and partly because it looked like a crime/suspense movie, sort of along the lines of CHINATOWN or L.A. CONFIDENTIAL. Not too far into it, it became clear that the plot wasn't going to be developing along those lines. Alright, so I just have to change my expectations. But as it went on, it just became more and more ludicrous. Events ceased to move logically, and characters (Edward Burns' in particular) began to behave inconsistently with the personalities that had been presented to us. The film makers apparently were trying to make some points: that cops are heroes beset with procedural obstacles and public scrutiny, that criminals get it easy in the US (I doubt that mental institutions are much better than prisons), that criminals too often get movie and book deals for their crimes, and that the media will sell/publish/broadcast/produce anything with a lot of violence. I don't think that the first three are true, and the movie didn't argue those points very well at all. However, this movie is evidence that anything can get produced by the media, as long as it has violence and a pseudo-intellectual commentary on American culture. My friends and I got a few good laughs and some inside jokes from this film, but it really wasn't worth the time. (By the way, I don't mean to imply that the police are bad people, just that I don't think that procedure and public scrutiny of the police is bad. On the contrary, it is essential in a democratic society.)
Rating:
Summary: Sad but true, a realistic look at the media and society
Review: I was apprehensive in purchasing this DVD due to some of the negative reviews. Let me tell you it is worth every penny. First lets talk about the DVD. The film transfer is excellent along with the Dolby 5.1 audio. The 16X9 Anamorphic transfer is crisp with no artifacting and true deep blacks.... The 5.1 audio is excellent and is as close to a DTS track as you can get. Now for the movie. It was fast paced, realistic, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Some have stated the plot is not realistic, they should view the supplemental material on the DVD. Most killers believe they can get off the hook with an insanity defense...There have even been cases where convicted criminals have made money off their crimes... This movie is a sad statement about our society today where folks love real life TV like Survivor and Temptation Island. This movie takes it to the next level basically stating that our society is ready to view a real murder regardless of the victim. It really makes one do some soul searching and reassess your values system. This movie is a must see for all!
Rating: 
Summary: Sad But True.....
Review: The saddest thing about this movie is that in a few years it could be, in my opinion, based on a true story:( This is a excellent movie and intense this movie will show you just where the justice system, legal system and media have gone in this country and even sadder it will also show you where we as a people will lead towards unless enough people get so sick and tired of the way things are turning. Whatch this movie it starts off a bit slow and wacky but it gets soooooo good!!
Rating:
Summary: A BRUTAL IN-YOUR-FACE WAKE UP CALL
Review: "Some people would kill for their fifteen minutes," is no longer just an expression; it's a horrifying reality that'll bring you to your knees. When two strangers from another country come to New York in the United States, they want their names to be known by all. They want to become rich and famous in the quickest way. After surveying many disturbing programs on TV about killers and how they've become icons, and even legends, they decide the fastest way to become rich and powerful is to murder many people, get it on camera, sell it to a tabloid news station on television for a million dollars, and then beat the rap and claim that they are insane so that they will be able to live free and sell their stories to movies, magazines, and so on. Sounds ridiculous, right? Think not, because I come to think that it can happen, and this movie does a very good job of convincing you that it can happen. The only ones who can stop them is a well known New York detective, (Robert De Niro), and an arson detective, (Edward Burns). They have to stop the killing spree before more innocent lives are taken, and most of all, before they become icons and are able to beat the murder rap. The clock is ticking, and the two killers are intelligent and far ahead of New York's finest. The acting is very well done by De Niro, Burns, and the two killers. Kelsey Grammer is also good as the snotty tabloid anchor man who will do just about anything to get a story that is filled with violence and death. There is a very tense shoot -out and chase scene which is filmed brilliantly. My only complaint is that, although it is necessary, the brutality of some of the violence which makes some of the scenes very hard to watch. The story is well thought out and the plot keeps you involved with the movie without becoming bored or tired of it. There are also some surprising twists and turns which will keep you at the edge of your seat. This is an exciting thrill ride that is not only filled with suspense and action. This film is also a clever satire of how bad the media circus really is and how much a story of death, rape, and chaos can make great entertainment, and that people will actually watch. A word of warning, though; this movie is very graphic and very brutal, and is hard to watch at parts. This is a movie that isn't intended for everybody. I do advise the you see this clever thriller. This movie will scare the hell out of you, and maybe it should.
Rating: 
Summary: ludicrous plot
Review: If only the title had referred to the film's running time! `15 Minutes' should be in the Motion Picture Hall of Infamy for Films With Really Dumb Plots. What starts off as a fairly standard `psycho-killers-on-the-loose-in-the-Big-Apple' crime story eventually degenerates into a preposterous, overwrought and laughable mess that makes one wonder how in the world its makers ever got Robert De Niro to agree to star in it. But star in it he does as Eddie Fleming, a homicide detective so beloved by the citizenry of Manhattan that he enjoys instant celebrity status everywhere he goes. His face even adorns the cover of People Magazine, which is appropriate, I guess, in the context of the story, because the screenplay, not content with providing a mere murder mystery plot, seems to want to make some kind of profound statement on the coarse media culture we foster in this country. Unfortunately, the film deals with the topic on such a brainless, unsophisticated and juvenile level that any insights it might hope to deliver are hopelessly lost in a sea of mind-boggling implausibilities. Chief among these is Kelsey Grammar as a talk show host named Robert Hawkins whose mug seems to be splattered on every bus bench, taxi placard and billboard in New York City. His actions are so wildly unbelievable that we stand amazed every time he appears on the screen. Not that the two killers - one an immigrant from Czechoslovakia, the other from Russia - score much higher on the credibility meter. After brutally killing a half dozen or so people - or at least so it feels from the enormously high body count that the film offers - these two dimwits come up with the brilliant idea of filming a murder, turning the videotape over to Grammar's TV show, then waiting for the cops to come and arrest them on the ingenious premise that the U.S. court system will find them not guilty by reason of insanity and that they will then be free to rake in the dough by selling the movie and book rights to the highest bidder. I guess that the anti-defamation league for Eastern Europeans doesn't wield much clout in Hollywood or this film would certainly have been picketed at every theatre in which it played. It's hard to know which aspect is most offensive about these two characters - their murderous brutality or their unprecedented stupidity. Indeed, virtually everyone acts stupidly in this movie - or at least in a manner unbecoming to his or her chosen profession. We have, for instance, the hotshot, overzealous arson investigator who makes so many blunders in the course of doing his job that one wonders how he is even able to hold onto it for as long as he does. Similarly, the beautiful reporter who, of course, is the girlfriend of one of the main characters (New York City can, it would appear, be a small world at times) is still allowed to report on the trial of the man who has killed her boyfriend (has no one ever heard of `conflict of interest'?), even though she is not able to get through one line of her report without breaking down. The sheer ludicrousness of the enterprise crystallizes in the film's utterly overwrought final sequence, as all the surviving characters converge at one spot to shout at and shoot at each other. Despite the rather depressing display of carnage scattered generously throughout this film, `15 Minutes' ultimately provides more laughs than many a comedy we've seen lately.
Rating:
Summary: INTELLIGENT & SHOCKING BUT LOOSES ITS EDGE AS IT GOES...
Review: For most of this movie, I was glued to my seat. Intriguing and exciting. Shocking and genuine. And not surprising, despite the unreal circumstances, not too far from reality. Not too long ago I witnessed a cimilar situation in Kansas City where a television station news team just happened to be in the right place at the right time and filmed a fleeing bank robbery suspect as he attempted to steal a car, pistol-whipped the car owner, fled into a building and escaped. Without informing the police, the station ran the story on their nightly news; exposing the identity of the criminal. Yet, when the police saw the story on the news, realizing they would need it for prosecution and arrest purposes, they attempted to retrieve the evidence. The station denied them; claiming exclusive rights to the video. They had beaten their competitors, and releasing the video made it public record, therefore allowing other stations to use it. Proof that what 15 MINUTES is trying to say is not too far off. Our media has become a business. And that we've become a desensitized society. What will it take to get our attention? When it comes to the media, the boundaries are always pushed. What 15 MINUTES does well is manage to mix a realistic nature with a possibly realistic premise; for awhile. Somewhere along the line, the story loses its edge. What starts as a realistic and shocking walk into the dark side of our society, ends with three or four highly staged scenes that rob it of its realism. All in all, an intriguing and frightening film that just didn't hold onto the edge for the entire two hours.
Rating:
Summary: 15 minutes alright...
Review: The plot feels like it was written in 15 minutes.
Rating:
Summary: Deserved more notice ...
Review: This film, and the fine DVD presentation, both deserve high marks. The movie falls somewhat short of what I perceived to be its goal of fusing "NETWORK" and an action-adventure, yet it does a solid job of entertaining while provoking ourage over the tabloid-driven glut of reality TV. I was with it all the way through, and give the filmmakers credit for some risky decisions which defy typical action movie conventions. To elaborate would be to spoil, so I'll just say see it and enjoy!
|
