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:

Some people will kill for their...15 MINUTES. Now, two of New York's finest must stop the madness.

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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

The immigration officer at the beginning of the movie is a real immigration officer, not an actor.

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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

Jordy Warsaw: [pointing his gun at Emil] You want to be a real American? You want to be a tough guy? Here's Eddie's gun. Shoot me! Shoot me!
Emil Slovak: [laughs] You can't kill me. You're not a cop. Your just a Fireman with a gun.

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Crazy Credits

A film by Oleg Rasgul is superimposed over the final clip of footage from Oleg's camera near the end.

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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

References Natural Born Killers (1994)

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Soundtracks

Porcelain - Clubbed to Death Variation
Written by Rob Dougan

User Reviews

One of the Best Commentaries I've Ever Seen

This movie is a commentary. It is a commentary of fame, of the media, of America's justice system; and it's one of the best fictional film commentaries I've ever seen. Robert De Niro and Edward Burns star as a cop and a fireman, respectively, searching for two murderers played by Karel Roden and Oleg Taktarov. A few other great actors round out the cast of this medium-paced thriller/actioner with some depth of thought. At the very least it keeps you entertained until its cool ending.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who's ever watched a newscast, ever seen someone get off on the insanity plea or ever wondered what goes on behind the curtain of the justice system. Just see it.