After I saw 15 Minutes, I immediately set out to find director John Herzfeld’s connection with Oliver Stone. I couldn’t find one, but that doesn’t change the fact that Herzfeld has Stone’s touch – the ability to create a big, overblown, almost-brilliant film that suffers mightily from a lack of restraint.
Defenders of 15 Minutes will say it’s excessive because it’s about excess. Herzfeld’s theme about the media perverting society, including America’s justice system, is pounded home constantly. Ironically, a smidgeon of restraint on the part of Herzfeld might have vaulted his film from ‘interesting but disappointing’ to ‘fabulous.’
The movie is about two pairs of men who share an affinity for appearing onscreen. There are two Eastern Europeans who have come to New York City to collect their share of a robbery haul. Emil (Karel Roden) has the brains and isn’t kidding when he says, “I’ve got a temper.” Oleg’s (Oleg Taktarov) main interest is in making a movie. He steals a camera, films the pair’s exploits, and says, “I love America. No one is responsible for what they do.”
On the other side, there’s fire department arson investigator Jordy Warsaw ( Edward Burns) and super-cop Eddie Fleming ( Robert De Niro). Their relationship – a preposterous self-appointed joint investigation – is pure Hollywood.
Much of what unfolds is wonderfully entertaining. Herzfeld’s use of multi-media – including television news, trashy shock-TV talk shows, and Oleg’s camcorder recordings – is effective, and several sequences are memorable. The best is a gripping chase scene in which the bad guys are pursued down the middle of a busy Manhattan street, running against the flow of traffic. De Niro is another highlight, as his strong performance gives the film credibility.
Unfortunately, though, there are big problems with 15 Minutes. Herzfeld is so focused on making his point that he doesn’t know when to shut up. He also screws up some of the cinematic basics along the way. Too many relationships are bogus: Warsaw and Fleming; Warsaw and Daphne ( Vera Farmiga), a key witness; Fleming and his television reporter girlfriend. And the movie’s continuity is flawed. For example, Daphne disappears from the story for several days and then magically returns – still dressed in the same clothing and needing a ride home from the police station. A romantic subplot between Daphne and Warsaw also makes no sense. In both cases, it seems that key footage was left on the cutting room floor.
As for Edward Burns, this is quite a change from his earlier low-budget romantic comedies. Here, he’s gone Hollywood all the way, culminating with a ridiculous closing scene in which Warsaw is stripped of his badge but heads off anyway to confront – and put 13 bullets into – his nemesis. Dirty Eddie might be in the movie big leagues now, but like the schlocky tabloid ‘journalism’ that it criticizes, 15 Minutes is senseless, heavy-handed and doesn’t know when enough is enough. This is particularly disappointing because, unlike tabloid television, this movie comes very close to being something special.
