15 Minutes (2001)

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

Director:

John Herzfeld

Writer:

John Herzfeld

Stars:

Robert De Niro, Edward Burns, Kelsey Grammer

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

When Eastern European criminals Oleg and Emil come to New York City to pick up their share of a heist score, Oleg steals a video camera and starts filming their activities, both legal and illegal. When they learn how the American media circus can make a remorseless killer look like the victim and make them rich, they target media-savvy NYPD Homicide Detective Eddie Flemming and media-naive FDNY Fire Marshal Jordy Warsaw, the cops investigating their murder and torching of their former criminal partner, filming everything to sell to the local tabloid TV show "Top Story."

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Plot Keywords:

criminal | detective | media | camera | homicide | 

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Taglines:

America likes to watch

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexuality

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English Czech Russian Greek Afrikaans

Release Date:

9 March 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fifteen Minutes

Filming Locations:

King Edward Hotel - 121 E. 5th St, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,523,154, 11 March 2001, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$24,403,552

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$56,359,980

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Industry Entertainment, New Redemption Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Charlize Theron appeared for free, as a "thank you" to John Herzfeld for giving her the breakthrough role in 2 Days in the Valley (1996).

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Goofs

When Nicollette interviews Eddie, he says "...whether it's evidence is yet to be determined", but in a news video playback of the same scene later on he says, "...whether it's evidence or not, we're not sure. We'll determine that later".

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Quotes

Eddie Flemming: Thrill of the hunt.

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Crazy Credits

During the credits you see the aftermath of the punch to Robert Hawkins

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Alternate Versions

InfiniFilm DVD includes deleted scenes with commentary: Emil forces Oleg to carry their baggage to the apartment; Jordy is visited by an annoying arsonist at his office; Emil helps a blind woman cross the street; extended, uncut scene outside the apartment fire set up for Jordy where the annoying arsonist returns; Jordy chases half-naked Oleg from a hotel across Times Square into a movie theater showing 2 Days in the Valley (1996) and mistakes on-screen gunfire for actual gunfire; extended scene of Emil in prison, explaining why he helped the blind woman.

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Connections

Referenced in 15 Minutes: Does Crime Pay? (2001)

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Soundtracks

Sail Away
Written by David Gray
Performed by David Gray
Courtesy of Ato Records and 1ht Records

User Reviews

Unfair Billings And An Underpublized Film

This a rough, edgy film but the interesting characters make it entertaining for the full two hours. For some reason, I don't believe this film got a lot of publicity.

Karol Roder doesn't get any billing but he's as much a star in this movie as big-names Robert Redford and Edward Burns. Another actor who also has a key role, Oleg Taktarov, has no billing! Wow, they really hosed the Eastern European actors in here.

The film is partially another indictment against the tabloid press. Playing the villain in that regard is good 'ole "Frasier" from TV: Kelsey Grammar. He plays a foul-mouthed tabloid television sleazoid "Robert Hawkins.

Sometimes this got a bit too edgy for me, nor did I appreciate Burns' verbal blasphemy, but I also enjoyed some of the black humor in here. Overall, it's not a film that, frankly, was that memorable yet I would watch it again.