15 Minutes ** (2001, Robert De Niro, Edward Burns, Kelsey Grammer) – Classic Movie Review 2302

Writer-director John Herzfeld’s 2001 thriller stars Robert De Niro as veteran homicide cop Detective Eddie Fleming, who resolves to track down a pair of psychopathic East European criminals (Karel Roden, Oleg Taktarov) manipulating the New York media by filming their exploits to become famous as media darlings. He teams up with Fire Marshal Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns) to stop the pair of murderers committing videotaped crimes.

This tolerable, but overlong and not always persuasive thriller boasts an interesting situation and some good scenes but a mound of generalisations, clichés and stereotypes in the script.

De Niro disappears too early on, Burns isn’t too successful as an action-man fireman hero, and Kelsey Grammer is uncomfortable as Robert Hawkins, a sleazy, pathetic TV frontman to whom the crooks try to sell their camcorder-video recordings of the crimes.

The movie is a disappointment but not a total dead loss, certainly working better as a gory thriller than a witty media satire.

Also in the cast are Avery Brooks, Vera Farmiga, James Handy and Darius McCrary.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2302

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