15 Minutes

There is an interesting argument to be made about how the media's coverage of violent crime may be perpetuating certain criminal acts. 15 Minutes does not make this argument, however. Instead, it is full of coy glimpses of gruesome violent acts, seen through the video camera of a Soviet bloc-head who hopes to become the next Frank Capra.

This is the central conceit of 15 Minutes - that America rewards its most violent, despicable criminals with a heroic amount of media coverage. When two violent criminals from Eastern Europe arrive in New York City to collect a debt, everything they have seen and heard about the United States leads them to believe that they can literally do no wrong. They plan to videotape their crime spree, and then sell the evidence against them for one million dollars. A successful insanity plea is a no-brainer, they reason, because only a madman would videotape his crimes.

Meanwhile, NYPD detective Eddie Flemming is close on their trail. Robert De Niro's homicide detective, 15 Minutes would have us believe, is a nationwide hero, currently on the cover of People magazine, and a regular on the sensational news show, "Top Story". Flemming actively courts the media, taking "Top Story"'s host, Robert Hawkins (played by Kelsey Grammer) on police raids, while dating a TV anchorwoman, Nicolette, who just happens to cover his cases.

Oddly enough, for a film that tries to emphasize how media sensationalism and violence go hand in hand, the fourth estate gets little screen time. Grammer's character makes appearances at the beginning and the end of the film, it seems, only to establish that media personalities of his ilk are heartless and manipulative monsters. Watching her as Nicolette, Melina Kanakaredes fans will be disappointed to see her misused in yet another prefab cop-girlfriend role.

When it comes to formula, however, 15 Minutes sticks closely to the mismatched-crime-solving-partner path. As De Niro's media-hating foil, Ed Burns' Jordy Warsaw is a fire marshal who gets caught up in the case. Apparently NYC fire marshals are allowed to be pretty badass - they carry guns, solve crimes, and don't even get into trouble for kidnapping crime suspects and holding them at gunpoint. Wait… I won't go there.

The relationship between De Niro and Burns never gels; in fact, they seem to be acting in different films. There's no real tension between them, and when they share the screen, the film stalls. Perversely, the film's villains are the real entertainment. Karel Roden (who looks like a cross between Gary Oldman and Robert Carlyle) is truly hissable as Emil, the sociopath leader of the deadly duo. As the man behind the video camera, Oleg Taktarov's "director" happily goes along with the death and destruction, viewing it all as essential elements of his film.

As the paths of the heroes and villians intersect, 15 Minutes begins to fall apart. No stranger to juggling multiple plots after Two Days in the Valley, director John Herzfeld doesn't seem to know how to sustain the story until the end. Instead, the film devolves into one bizarre sequence after another, substituting sleekly styled action for sense. By the time the credits roll, 15 Minutes has overstayed its welcome by an at least an hour.

Photo copyright: New Line Cinema.