15 Minutes
6/25/2001
THRILLER
Color. R (mature themes, language, violence, sexual situations), 121 min., CC, VHS rental, DVD $26.99
Street: Aug. 18, Prebook: July 17
First Run: W, March 2001, $25 mil.
Cast: Robert De Niro (Meet the Parents), Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan), Kelsey Grammar (TV's
Frasier), Melena Kanakaredes (TV's Providence), Vera Farmiga (Autumn in New York), Oleg Taktarov
(Air Force One)
Director: John Herzfeld
NEW LINE/WARNER
Story Line: A hot-shot New York detective (De Niro) teams up with shy fire inspector (Burns) go to take down two Eastern European thugs (Taktarov, Karel Roden) who go on a violent rampage in hopes of gaining fame and fortune from their notoriety.
Bottom Line: This clunky mix of police procedural, media satire and serial killer thriller doesn't even attempt to mix its disparate genres smoothly and careens all over the place, eventually turning into a cartoon. This wouldn't be bad if the film's tone stayed in a lighthearted mode, but extremely violent and unsettling altercations just don't work next to scenes of over-the-top anti-TV ramblings that could have been excised from Network 25 years ago. Major plot holes and strange continuity don't help either. Although De Niro is fine as the world-weary cop, the media-obsessed killers Taktarov (a former Ultimate Fighting champion) and Roden sure are reprehensible. Despite mixed reviews, the film made $25 million in theaters and is poised to have more than 15 minutes of fame on video shelves. --Irv Slifkin
BACK TO TOP |
Talk Back 
