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

Edward Burns plays the role of an Arson Investigator, which his co-star Robert De Niro played in Backdraft (1991).

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Goofs

At the beginning of the film, Robert Hawkins (Kelsey Grammer) is in a high-rise building (across from Times Square in NYC) talking to a woman sitting at a desk. They show him talking and the left side of his belt is on the outside of his coat. In the next shot his belt is back under his coat.

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Quotes

News Stand Vendor: It pays to be a killer in this country.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

References Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

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Soundtracks

Fame
Written by David Bowie, John Lennon and Carlos Alomar
Performed by God Lives Underwater
Courtesy of 1500 Records

User Reviews

Pretty Good to the Last Minute!

The following review for the film `15 Minutes' will probably take you around that same time to read it. Wait! Come back! I was joking! This film is another flick that satirizes the media's influence in depicting real life crimes as sensationalistic newsgathering for the general public. We have seen this before in films such as `Natural Born Killers.' Critics have ridiculed `15 Minutes' because they say that the film actually demonstrates the same exact thing that it tries to satirize. It does this by showing gory murder -type violence and utilizing famous stars in small cameo roles. Even though I do have to agree with this concept that my colleagues (don't I wish) have criticized, I should say to them to `just wait one minute, or fifteen for that matter' and do not take it so seriously. Why? Because the film does entertain. I think that critics should just leave it at. By the way, the film is about a homicide detective and an arson investigator who hunt down some eastern european psychos who film their crimes on video. Robert Deniro, who plays the homicide detective, is more low key in this one; and Eddie Burns cinematic presence adds fuel to the fire as the arson investigator. I really do have to say that I enjoyed mostly every minute in `15 Minutes' even though most critics don't second my opinion.

**** Good