15 Minutes is rife with intriguing themes and memorable lines. Czechoslovakian actor Karel Roden puts forward an impressive performance as serial killer Emil Slovak, managing to sneer, ’’I love America. No one’s responsible for what they do, ’’ between puffs on a stogie. The film could have been a powerful look at the dark side of the pursuit of fame, but obviously writer, director and producer John Herzfeld has forgotten a very important proverb for any craftsman: ’’The secret is to know when to stop.’’
This problem is evident in the very first scene. We see a crowd of people lined up at a customs counter in an airport. Playing overtop is incredibly dramatic music that would be appropriate for a chariot race in Ben Hur, but certainly not here. By the end of the film the menagerie of characters have spun the plot into such head-spinning chaos, it seems like everyone is shouting and screaming at each other and crying for blood. It’s much too much. Even though the film has a comfortable 120-minute running time, the credits seem to roll about 20 minutes too late.
The movie boasts an impressive cast. Roden’s performance should net him more high-paying Hollywood roles, and as his media-obsessed partner-in-crime, Oleg Taktarov possesses a powerful physical presence. Robert De Niro is in his element playing a streetwise cop in bed with the media. It is also nice to see Kelsey Grammer playing someone substantially different from Frasier (now in his 17th year). The only weak link in the chain is Edward Burns, who has won more fame for his writing and directing than his acting. Many of his scenes are shared with De Niro, and Burns practically shrinks in his company. It also doesn’t help that he is saddled with a silly character. If a real fireman were to see an attractive girl on the street, would he really get a police sketch artist to draw her? Does anyone outside of movies hurl a phone at a window at the end of an upsetting conversation?
Herzfeld has characters impossibly outrunning fireballs, and De Niro yet again lampooning his legendary ’’You talkin’ to me?’’ speech from Taxi Driver. In the end it all builds into this incredibly negative and miserable parade of yelling actors. You have to laugh just to get through it.
Bottom Line:
Let this film stand as proof that having the greatest idea in the world is useless if you are incapable of realizing it.