15 Minutes (2001)

Director:

John Herzfeld

Writer (WGA):

John Herzfeld (written by)

Release Date:

9 March 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

America likes to watch

Plot:

A homicide detective and a fire marshall must stop a pair of murderers who commit videotaped crimes to become media darlings.

Plot Keywords:

Media | Detective | Fire Marshal | Murder | New York City

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	Detective Eddie Flemming
Edward Burns	...	Fire Marshal Jordy Warsaw
Kelsey Grammer	...	Robert Hawkins
Avery Brooks	...	Detective Leon Jackson
Melina Kanakaredes	...	Nicolette Karas
Karel Roden	...	Emil Slovak
Oleg Taktarov	...	Oleg Razgul
Vera Farmiga	...	Daphne Handlova
John DiResta	...	Bobby Korfin
James Handy	...	Deputy Chief Fire Marshal Declan Duffy
Darius McCrary	...	Detective Tommy Cullen
Bruce Cutler	...	Himself
Charlize Theron	...	Rose Hearn
Kim Cattrall	...	Cassandra
David Alan Grier	...	Mugger in Central Park

Also Known As:

15 Minuten Ruhm (Germany)
Fifteen Minutes (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | Czech | Russian | Greek | Afrikaans

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #36845) | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Singapore:R(A) | Brazil:16 | Singapore:M18 | Philippines:R-18 | South Korea:15 (cable rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Singapore:PG (censored version) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

The tension between Emil and Oleg is based on the real tension between some Czechs and Russians. Many Czechs hate the Russian language as they were forced to learn Russian under Soviet occupation. Karel Roden refused to speak Russian to Oleg Taktarov during rehearsals.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Emil says that he will fake insanity and have himself declared unfit for trial. This, he says, will result in his being committed to a psychiatric institution where he will miraculously recover and be protected from further trial by the "double jeopardy" laws. While his being "unfit for trial" would, indeed, prevent him from being tried, meaning that "double jeopardy" wouldn't apply, we can, perhaps, excuse his incomplete grasp of the subtleties of foreign law and language, and accept that his plan would work if he stood trial and was declared "not guilty by reason of insanity".

Quotes:

Robert Hawkins: If it bleeds, it leads!

Movie Connections:

References Natural Born Killers (1994)

Soundtrack:

1% (The Long Way Down)

Very exciting but unbelievable and sadistic

Two foreigners (one Russian, the other Czech) go to America and decide to get rich by videotaping themselves murdering people, sell it to a sleazy TV tabloid host (wonderfully played by Kelsey Garmmer), get off by pleading insanity and then sell their story to the highest bidder. Obviously, the plot is ridiculous. Also it decries violence but shoves scenes of extreme blood and violence in our face--one sadistic sequences shows a topless hooker being beaten and stabbed the death. Also we get more than a few shots of her nude, bloody body afterwords. Yet, if you ignore the loopholes (and there are many) in the plot and brace yourself for the violence, the film works. It's virtually nonstop action, violence, noise going at you full blast. The acting--well, who cares? This movie is not an acting movie. DeNiro walks through his role as a celebrity cop and Edward Burns looks very handsome but utterly miserable all through the film. Also the two psychos tend to overdo it too much. And the constant switching between video and film stock gets tiresome real quick. But if it's a loud, noisy, stupid, fun (in a way) action film you're looking for...this is it!