Rating: 
Summary: What a sleeper!
Review: It's a shame there is so much mediocrity around that I missed this effectively thought-out thriller at the theater. The movie catapults you into some fast-paced drama, which twists and turns unpredictably, while exploring new methods of story illustration. Very fresh, new, sometimes shocking and ultimately exciting movie, which covers all the bases of character depth, action and special effects, not to mention the international moral & social issues intertwined in the plot. The combination of editing, music and sound was extremely novel and *very* effective. Play it loud!!!
Ed burns was perfectly cast, as were the foreigners!!! I *loved* the 'gallows' humor!!
The DVD has some very well thought out and interesting additional material, and obviously a lot of care has gone into its production overall, including almost original (a la Requiem for a Dream) menus and illustrations.
This movie *really* works, and the DVD *really* will help get a lot of extra value for your dollar.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible! A Really Pointless Film!
Review: Let me start off by saying I'm probably the BIGGEST Robert De Niro fan alive, but even he couldnt save this movie!.... I read all the reviews on Amazon.com and MrShowbiz.com and I still just had to go and rent the dvd. Let me say I was VERY disapointed at how two great stars, Robert De Niro (The Godfather Part II**, Taxi Driver*) and Edward Burns (Back Draft) got into a movie like this, without thinking of what it could do to their careers. However, I will give it two stars, one being for the terrific job the actors done, and the other for the cinematography. But I did think that they over-done it with the handheld cameras all the time. (Makes you think your re-visiting the theaters or you local video store for a copy of Oliver Stone's NATURAL BORN KILLERS*). Anyways, if you want to see a good Robert De Niro movie go out and rent Goodfellas, The Godfather: Part II**, or Taxi Driver*. DONT RENT THIS! But like me, someone out there wont listen, and will be writing the same review I am, trashing this joke of a movie. Sorry Mr. De Niro! Get a better script to act in, or atleast acknowledge that people should stay away some it! (*)- Academy Award Nominated
(**)- Academy Award Winner
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Let me start by saying this...I was skeptical of this movie when I first bought before renting. Robert DeNiro is as brilliant as ever playing a NYPD detective for homicide. He is hyped by the media in which he is almost a celebrity in what he does best is to serve and protect. The movie never lacks action and suspense, which I am a loyal fan of this genre. Before i put this movie in and started to watch, I was thinking of about taking it and resaleing back, but I have changed my mind 100%.
Rating: 
Summary: WHAAAATTT????
Review: I did not like this movie because it simply makes no sense at all... besides you don't expect the hero of the movie disappearing by the middle of the movie and i think that was a bad move from the director... but that's only my opinion... I was very disappointed by the movie and did not expect to see de Niro accept this role... Nonetheless, he is still one of the best actors of all time by his diverse roles.
If you are one of his fans, go watch the movie but don't expect a lot from it...
Rating:
Summary: A satire of how crazy our society has become!
Review: 15 Minutes is a satire about the irony of our society, where the bad guys can end up like heroes, helped by the media hype and bad journalism; and some who are trying to do good can end up like victims of their own emotions when faced with all the trash the media puts together driven by the rating frenzy, and with some of the absurd legal loopholes that still allow some of the bad guys to get away with their wrongdoing. On a side note, this movie is yet another showcase of some great acting by Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan). It also serves the same purpose for Bob DeNiro, but that is not anything new... :)
Rating: 
Summary: We are lucky real NYPD men are not THAT sloppy !!
Review: Good story, true purpose, excellent cast...This movie really looked promising.
Unfortunately, someone there has screwed it all up. What could have been a fascinating story about American society, has turned into a pitiful B-movie, where characters are so predictable it makes them nothing less than clichés moving around !! And when an inept script requires for a character to behave totally out of...well, character, in order to insert a story plot, the writers do not even blink !! Take De Niro's character, Eddy Fleming : tough cop, street-smart, years on the job, been there, done that. When the plot calls for him to be ambushed at his appartment, he becomes as stupid and sloppy as a rooky, and gets whacked on the head without knowing what hit him.
Or his partner Burns : top arson investigator, until they make him go back to a witness' appartment WITH the witness, when we all know the killers are still out there and they have the witness address !!! That's all the writers found to bring about another bang bang explosion scene !! Pretty pathetic film by my standards. What the hell is De Niro doing in that flick ? This is a Steven Seagal or JCVD type of unprobable and approximate scenario !! We are lucky our FD and PD men are not THAT amateurish...
Rating: 
Summary: Adrenaline Ride in NYC
Review: The film: Imagine if you came to America as an outsider, without any knowledge of its values and morals, and your first look into American culture was through the television screen, to be more accurate, through daytime talk shows, tabloid journalism and sensational news programs, what would you think?
As I see it, John Herzfeld's second film, starts and ends at this point. The media as a reflector, or a creator of American society. 15 minutes evolves around Oleg and Emil, 2 eastern Europeans (Russian and Czech) who come to America for the first time to collect some money from an old friend. As it turned out, the vacation becomes a bloody road to their 15 minutes of fame. Both of them have an obsession for being famous, Oleg as a film creator who documents their trip to America, and Emil as a celebrity murderer. Emil gets the idea that in America "no one is responsible for what they do" (gee, I wonder where he got that from...) and plots to get away with murder by pleading insanity ... sounds familiar? The 2 roles are played brilliantly by Karel Roden and Oleg Taktarov who are both eastern European actors. John Hetrzfeld's real life approach is eminent throughout the entire movie, which makes it all more believable and tense. As things start to get nasty, enter Eddie Fleming, played by Robert De Niro, a celebrity detective who's here to stop Oleg and Emil from doing more killings. Eddie loves the media and the media loves him back. Plus, there are couple of movies about him and he's not at all camera shy. He's friend with the media and he definitely uses it to his advantages. Kelsey Grammer plays a hard core news anchor man, who's thirsty for rating, and what brings rating? Right, violence, sensation, sex, scandals- pretty much everything we see on television today. Kelsey is perfect for the role of the charismatic, slick news presenter, and he doesn't over do it. Jordi Warsaw (Edward Burns) is an arson investigator who joins Eddie in his chase. The partnership between the two so very different characters is born almost out of coincidence and from the hectic course of events. To me, Burns' character is the sole of the film. He's moral, professional and sensitive (he doesn't watch TV...). Their partnership evolves into a true bond and even a father-child relationship. Aside from the excellent performance of the main actors, as well as the supporting roles, the movie's strength lies in it's realistic feel. Herzfeld's approach, which I mentioned earlier, was to keep everything as close to reality. Starting from the authentic eastern European actors, the real locations, the use of the actors instead of doubles in many of the tense and difficult scenes and the use of the camera. As he explains in the great commentary track, he used mostly panning and long cuts most of the time, instead of fast cutting between shots. We actually see everything as it happens and I think this is a right approach not only to this kind of "realistic" film , but to any movie. Although the movie is categorized as an action thriller, there is a lot more in it then that. We are talking about mixing genres and breaking formulas. It is obvious that 15 minutes was a film hard to market because of the crossing between action, drama and social-cultural satire. I think most of today's audience is reluctant to accept the break of conventions and New Line really deserves the credit for undertaking such a film.
The good news is that the DVD is very popular and I think the film gets its well-deserved recognition from both the public and the critics. The DVD: This impressive package is the second in New Line's Infinifilm series, that promise to take you beyond the movie and delivers. Menus:
The menus are a real treat, looking like news broadcast of the fictitious Top Story, with clips from the movie and Kelsey Grammer's character as the reporter in the main menu. Extras:
First and foremost, you get a full length commentary by director john Herzfeld. Great stuff, the man talk about many the film aspects, behind the scene info, ideas, realization, working with the cast and pointing out friends & family. This commentary is an experience by itself. Deleted scenes: 7 deleted scenes, all of them could have stayed in the final cut, and they give us more info and understanding of the characters. Watching them with the optional commentary of Herzfeld, gives you an insightful look into the film. Really good stuff. These are the features that really completes the film experience. Besides that you get couple of scenes taken with Oleg's camera during the film, a music video (I really like musiv videos on DVDs, they are a part of the film's marketing efforts and you get them with excellent video and quality) and the theatrical trailer. For the Beyond the Movie promise included are 2 interesting documentaries about tabloid media and celebrity criminals and fact subtitles. And last but not least, Infinifilm: watching the film with additional clips, footage and info. Good job! DVD-ROM features includes:script-to-screen access and some weblinks. Overall, very solid package, worth buying for the commentary and deleted scenes alone.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Review: I guess I expected more from this movie. De Niro was good, but the rest of the cast left a lot to be desired. The plot was okay, and there were some good parts, but all-in-all it's a movie I wouldn't have missed not seeing.
Rating:
Summary: How do you spell this, ahem, FILM??
Review: Three words: SLICK-IDIOT-PLOT. Sad to think that this is what Hollywood has sunk so much money into: a stupid story with half-baked characters, lousy go-thought-the-motions acting and the above stated three-word phrase. Plus, it's TOO DAMN LONG! At best, this is a good film for testing your 5.1 system. But then again, that's what most empty-headed Hollywood films are about these days.
Rating:
Summary: Poorly Plotted
Review: Just where is this movie trying to go? There is no creativity. After the first hour, it is unbearably boring. Half the scenes end with an inane or sentimental comment (something "deep" has been said) and an image of the statue of liberty. I suppose the movie is trying to take a moral stand by showing us a world where journalists are driven only by ratings, criminals have figured out how to beat the system by claiming insanity, and hard-working cops end up paying the price. What originality! Even if you agree with these sweeping generalizations, you still won't like the movie. There is no mystery, no story, nothing interesting. And the hypocrisy of the movie is obvious. It is filled with scenes of graphic violence. Odd for a movie that seems to bemoan the media's sensationalizing violence. And what does "15 Minutes" mean? It has no relevance whatsoever to the movie. I have a feeling that a lot of the original scenes were taken out of the movie -- which again goes to show how poor the movie production must have been. Try Mad City (Travolta, Hoffman) for a somewhat better treatment of the same subject.
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