15 Minutes (2001) or, Bad Cynics in New York City

6/26/2013

15 Minutes (2001) or, Bad Cynics in New York City

♥♥♥

Stars Edward Burns and Robert De Niro caught in a moment of intensity on a video camera on the poster for John Herzfeld's 15 Minutes

15 Minutes is about a famous New York City cop and a pair of Eastern European crooks on a crime spree in the Big Apple, whose paths cross.

Very critical towards mass media and the US, this film sometimes feels like a debate commentary more than a movie. Writer-director John Herzfeld's (2 Days in the Valley (1996)) ambition seems to have been to go further into extremes with every new scene.
The aesthetics of the villains' video-tapes leave a confused impression, although bearing in mind the way video capture has revolutionized the lives of normal people since the film's release, - as well as the world of crime, - the element may be considered interesting regardless.
15 Minutes, (the title is taken from the famous Andy Warhol quote that everyone will get their 15 minutes of fame in the future), keeps afloat due to its great ensemble cast which includes Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook (2012)) working at top speed; Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan (1998)) as his young apprentice; Kelsey Grammer (Frasier (1993-04)) as a cynical TV host, and great Czech actor, Karel Roden (The Abandoned/Los Abandonados (2006)) as a delusional bad guy.
Also co-starring are attractive actresses Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring (2013)), Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City (2008)), and Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)).
Herzfeld's career has been going downhill since the film: He has only directed the two little-seen features, The Death and Life of Bobby Z (2007) and the recently poorly received drama Collection/Reach Me (2014) with Sylvester Stallone and again an impressive ensemble cast.

Watch the trailer for the somewhat hyperbolic 15 Minutes right here

Cost: 42 mil. $
Box office: 56.3 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.34 times the cost)
[15 Minutes premiered 1 March (USA) and runs 120 minutes. Shooting took place on location in New York and Los Angeles, ending in May 1999. The release was pushed out one year after trailers had been playing for unknown reasons. It opened #2, behind holdover hit The Mexican, to a 10.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more week in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 24.4 mil. $ (43.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets seems to have been the UK with 2.3 mil. $ (4%) and Australia with 1.3 mil. $ (2.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Herzfeld returned with Bill Stanton Project (2003, TV-series), Dr. Vegas (2004, TV-series) and theatrically with Bobby Z (2007). De Niro returned in The Score (2001), Burns in Sidewalks of New York (2001). 15 Minutes is rotten at 32 % with a 4.4/10 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of 15 Minutes?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

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6/26/2013

15 Minutes (2001) or, Bad Cynics in New York City

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