Director John Herzfeld takes a wild stab at tackling the elements of celebrity and all its machinations in the high-voltage buddy-buddy action thriller satire 15 MINUTES. Herzfeld valiantly showcases his commentary about celebrity/media and the invitation it brings to vigilance. Unfortunately, he falls short in his goal to effectively mesh together the sardonic concept of the media subculture as it pertains to our violent indulgences with fame. Despite the seedy satirical guise, 15 MINUTES at best is a rudimentary and hollow action thriller going through all the kinetic, hyper-standard motions.
Robert DeNiro is a homocide cop and noted TV celebrity who must team up with a low-key arson investigator (Ed Burns from "Saving Private Ryan", "The Brothers McMullen") to prevent two sinister Soviet psychos from killing more folks after receiving notoriety for their recorded murderous deeds via a snuff videotape. They hope to sell their homicidal hobby of killing sprees on tape by forwarding it to a highly-watched TV tabloid show in an effort to capitalize on their sick-minded attention-getting antics. Hence, DeNiro's determined cop and Burns' straight-laced arson investigator need to put a kink in the armor of these animated thrill-seeking sickos and quick.
15 MINUTES, for the most part, never really works on any of the levels it desperately tries to set for itself. We are asked to believe that this Euro-demonic duo are to represent the fallout of the celebrity-seeking malcontent whose consequences are taken to the highest extreme. Consequently, their over-the-top killing frenzy is nothing more than an exaggerated excuse to lend some outrageous tension to this otherwise hyperactive, baseless urban thriller. Everything about their actions is needlessly phony and sensationally ridiculous. Unintentionally, the film ends up being its own exploitive tool instead of showing the exploitive nature of its own subject matter it is trying to convey in it's own storyline. The satire behind 15 MINUTES never fully realizes its own relevance as the proceedings become annoyingly boisterous and far-fetched.
DeNiro appears rather indifferent regarding his role and seems quite bored with what he's doing on screen. Burns looks like he's waiting to take the next bus to his next film project. In the supporting role of a sleazy talk show host, television's FRAZIER star Kelsey Grammar is deliciously self-serving but there's not enough of him to fortify this directionless actioner. Melinda Kanakaredes (from NBC-TV's PROVIDENCE) is radiant as DeNiro's much-younger reporter girlfriend but she's merely window-dressing in a male-bonding ensemble.
15 MINUTES does have its moments in the two hours it is alloted. Too bad it ran out of momentum while presenting the all-too-familiar formulaic conventions of a redundant and mismatched partners-in-crime frivolous flick.
Frank rates this film: **1/2 stars
