Critic Reviews
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James Berardinelli, ReelViews
It doesn't feel like a cookie-cutter cop thriller, and, on top of that, it's actually about something.
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Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Herzfeld's a secondhand-meister, simply regenerating themes, styles and a story line that we've all seen -- and tired of -- somewhere before.
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Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
The movie is nothing if not ambitious. The movie is nothing if not overdone. The movie is also, well, pretty much ... nothing.
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Nick Rogers, Suite101.com
Alley flasher, pubescent paperboy, toy with a broken squeaker. Edward Burns sounds like those things, but plays none of them here. He's fire marshal Jordy Warsaw. That sounds like a Pauly Shore character; Shore would arguably act with greater conviction.
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Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Exceptionally violent, intense DeNiro thriller.
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Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
"15 Minutes" is a cops-and-killers action movie naively intent on telling you things you already know about the societal pitfalls of tabloid media.
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Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
It sounds like some crank on the next barstool venting about how everything is crap.
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Jordan Hiller, Bangitout.com
And so now, in the unambitious tradition of the eminent Natural Born Killers - comes the spectacularly underachieving 15 Minutes.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Andy Warhol's theory gets yet another Hollywood workup in this slezy actioner, this time around with two foreign criminals as media-hungry badasses.
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Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
It's as if Herzfeld believes all that stuff about Americans being hopelessly infantile -- he wanted to make a really good movie, but he just knew he'd lose us if he did.
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David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
Herzfeld has created an alternate New York City that is just unpleasant to look at, plain and simple.
Read all 11 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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15 Minutes is a piece of crap. This film was boring, uninspired garbage, some cast members were very bad, and couldn't act for shit. I'm refering to Karel Rode, terrible actor. I also feel that Deniro was misplaced in this. Almost every actor tries his best to elevate this… More
15 Minutes is a piece of crap. This film was boring, uninspired garbage, some cast members were very bad, and couldn't act for shit. I'm refering to Karel Rode, terrible actor. I also feel that Deniro was misplaced in this. Almost every actor tries his best to elevate this piece of shit film, but to no avail. With terrible actors such as Roden, this film doesn't elevate itself out of it's mediocrity level. It worsens. 15 Minutes was a terrible film, one to avoid.
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15 minutes. That?s how long De Niro is in it for! Grammer is good but Burns is annoying as usual!
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Not one of De niro's best movies but certainly not a terrible movie and i quite enjoyed it! Its a bit weird though almost a black comedy just not to many laughs and more action/thriller/violence!
worth a watch!
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I had never heard of this movie when I saw it. But it was a kickass movie. Lots of great characters.
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I had no idea what I was getting into when I watched this movie. I had heard nothing about it, with only a general understanding of the plot. But I was pleasantly surprised. The first hour is good, while struggling to find the direction and the tone that will carry throughout the rest… More
I had no idea what I was getting into when I watched this movie. I had heard nothing about it, with only a general understanding of the plot. But I was pleasantly surprised. The first hour is good, while struggling to find the direction and the tone that will carry throughout the rest of the film, but the second half finally hits it's note, and stays with it the rest of the movie. The writer/director's commentary on the media and the judicial system totally hits home, and succeeds in making the statement on each that it set out to do. Great acting by Ed Burns and Robert De Niro and a great film all-around.
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An electrifying and hard-edged thriller with outstanding force. It's relentlessly exciting and absolutely shocking. An edge of your seat ride fuelled by explosive action, great story and sheer adreniline. It's realism you knock you out. Thrilling, stylish, riveting and… More
An electrifying and hard-edged thriller with outstanding force. It's relentlessly exciting and absolutely shocking. An edge of your seat ride fuelled by explosive action, great story and sheer adreniline. It's realism you knock you out. Thrilling, stylish, riveting and powerful. Pulse-pounding and breathtaking. Edward Burns and Robert De Niro are brilliant. A great flick. Chilling, provocative and exhilerating.
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Edward Burns is the worst. The fact that he thinks he is talented is disturbing.
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This satirical thriller film is very little shock and really strange tale that follows the fortunes of two freshly arrived, wholly psychotic Eastern Europeans, as they weave a trail of bloodshed and mayhem across NYC.
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A somewhat overlooked cop/action film. Possibly for the massive twist that happens half way through. I certainly didn't see it coming and was very shocked. This made the entire film unpredictable and a real treat.
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[font=Arial][color=darkred]Let me say this now and clear so everyone knows - DO NOT PUT EDWARD BURNS IN THE LEAD OF ANYTHING! Burns falls under that league of actors that can contribute and possibly do fine as supporting players but cannot for the life of them carry a film. Now,… More
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Let me say this now and clear so everyone knows - DO NOT PUT EDWARD BURNS IN THE LEAD OF ANYTHING! Burns falls under that league of actors that can contribute and possibly do fine as supporting players but cannot for the life of them carry a film. Now, moving on...[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Robert DeNiro plays the head of a police force, but he's also a local celebrity with his face everywhere from newspapers, to People magazine, to his own coffee franchise (I made up one, guess it). The woman from the NBC show 'Providence' with the gigantic Jersey hair plays the reporter that fawns over him and the girlfriend that reports him. She's meaningless. Kelsey Grammar plays a heavy-handed out for blood journalist of a tabloidy TV show that panders to our primal desires of violence. The show is seen as exploitative and possibly subversive - not to mention in poor taste. You may be asking how does Edward Burns get caught up in this? Well he's an ace arson investigator that crosses paths with mega-star DeNiro. But see, Burns' character HATES the media. Quite a contrast, eh?[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Burns and DeNiro form an unlikely team and go through the rigid "Buddy Cop Movie" drill that's been played numerous times before. They dislike each other, they tease and try to show up one another, they come to respect and appreciate the other and work as a team. Yawn.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]DeNiro phones in a performance in like none he has ever done before, even 'Rocky and Bullwinkle'. Grammar hams up his overkilled role. Burns is his typical atrociousness. If you look closely you'll find the actor who played the older brother in 'Family Matters' a.k.a. 'The Urkle Show' in this flick. Man, his career time with Jaleel White must be paying off.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]The real spirit of the film is in its two debut actors who also serve as the villains. These two are from Eastern Europe and search for old friends that seem not so friendly anymore. Some altercations happen and a killing spree begets them trying to rub out the lone red-headed witness of their murders. Along the way they discover they can sell the videotapes of their crimes to the top bidder and make a fortune. The two baddies are fun to watch and a joy to see whenever they return back to the screen. They seem to punch up '15 minutes' particularly during the tedious dead spots. These two actors seem to be the only life of the film, and it's a terrible shame when we must veer off back to our lame storyline with Burns. credit this as another case of the villains being far more interesting than the heroes -- the 'Austin Powers' syndrome.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]The major dissapointment of '15 Minutes' is what it looked like it would be. With the early teaser trailer it looked like it would be a scathing satire on media and our glorification of criminals as heroes. When the full length trailer came out it dropped to looking like another crazy serial killer flick. Sadly, it never rises above this. There are a few moments with some bite but '15 Minutes' gums it along as far as satire is concerned. It's more concerned with a standard by the book plot. The whole notion of using the videotapes and selling them to Grammar's TV tabloid doesn't even show up until twenty minutes before the film is over![/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]'15 Minutes' is a thriller that tries to be smart and savvy but tries to be by staying under standard conventions. The very ending to this film could have gone in a million different ways, some very satisfying, but it goes the predicatble action-thriller way. Yawn. That's what you'll be doing a lot with '15 Minutes' - regaining lost sleep.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: C[/color][/font]
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The underlying "message" of 15 Minutes is that everyone wants what the title suggests - fifteen minutes of fame. Robert De Niro did a phenomenal job. He plays veteran New York City detective Eddie Flemming (Robert De Niro), who enjoys a certain celebrity due to the fact that… More
The underlying "message" of 15 Minutes is that everyone wants what the title suggests - fifteen minutes of fame. Robert De Niro did a phenomenal job. He plays veteran New York City detective Eddie Flemming (Robert De Niro), who enjoys a certain celebrity due to the fact that many of his cases have been featured on `Top Story,' the `news' show hosted by Robert Hawkins (Kelsey Grammer). The bad guys did a pretty good job playing two psychos who plan on videotaping a murder and selling it to be shown on TV. They know the unethical TV anchorman that will buy their movie, now they just need a high-profile target. And they plan to get off on an insanity plea.
The point of the film is to satirize our cultural obsession with violence and celebrity, whereby people will do anything to become famous. The usually suave Kelsey Grammer is sleazy and smarmy as a low life TV station manager willing to do anything for the story and a video tape of a murder.
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A very good murder-thriller. A fantastic satire. Admittedly, it's probably not for everybody, but if you love a good thriller, you can't go wrong with "15 Minutes".
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Pretty unexpected twist happens in this movie. It's so twisted it's a pretty plausible plot line when you think about it.
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This film wants to be a clever criticism of the American obsession with violence and of the media, but it slowly but surely drifts into a plain and none too exciting bloodfest. The critique goes wrong and it is not even a good action film instead. Media criticism has been done much… More
This film wants to be a clever criticism of the American obsession with violence and of the media, but it slowly but surely drifts into a plain and none too exciting bloodfest. The critique goes wrong and it is not even a good action film instead. Media criticism has been done much better (though also much more violent) by movies like Natural Born Killers.
Read all 16 featured audience ratings
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