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15 Minutes is a movie that gets up close and personal
with two eastern European hardmen - Emil Slovak (Karel Roden)
and Oleg Razgul (Oleg Taktarov) - who land in the US, see
how soft the country and its laws are and then go on a crime
and murder spree that would have Charles Manson's mob green
with envy.
One of them films the crimes on a stolen videocam and the
plan is that if they get caught they'll plead insanity, get
off scot-free, and then make squillions by selling the book
and TV rights.
On their trail are media-star cop, Eddie Flemming (Robert
de Niro) and fire investigator Jordy Warsaw (Ed Burns) who
try to track them down before they can wipe out half of New
York.
Flemming is worldly and media-wise, while Warsaw is a young
upandcomer whose only interest is saving peoples' lives.
Added into the character mix is news-show host Robert Hawkins
(Kelsey Grammer) who is a friend of Flemming's and eager to
maintain his top ratings.
15 Minutes is a gripping (and very violent) murder-thriller
that rails against America's media, laws that favour crims
and the cult of personality.
The actors are excellent and play their roles to perfection.
Roden and Taktarov are marvellously wicked, Grammer is entirely
believable as the TV jock and De Niro is ... well, De Niro.
Burns is very, very good and carries the central role extremely
well.
Video transfers don't come much better than this and the
sound makes better use of the surround channels than in a
number of recent titles. DTS 5.1 is available.
A terrific night's entertainment!
Conclusion: Movie 85%, Extras 85%
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