SnoopyStyle Tabloid TV host Robert Hawkins (Kelsey Grammar) rides along with his drunken friend Detective Eddie Flemming (Robert De Niro). Arson investigator Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns) uncovers two people murdered in a deliberate fire. He finds witness Daphne Handlova (Vera Farmiga). They follow the crime spree by two eastern European criminals who become enamored with their new American media world.The movie seems to be trying to make a point about tabloid journalism. The problem is that it's so heavy-handed and fake. The performances are broad and the characters are cliché. The jabs are not sharp. It's almost a satire except people get brutally murdered and it's not funny. Any compelling points are shouted down by the characters. The criminal duo could be in a violent comedy. The pairing of De Niro and Burns could be a dynamic cop duo. There are some good possibilities but there is simply so much of everything.

NateWatchesCoolMovies John Herzfield's 15 Minutes is a mean spirited little slice of satirical fun, with an eclectic, nihilistic vibe that grabs you, holds on and stings after. It deals with the media's fixation on lurid, disgusting human beings and the violent acts they commit, glorifying such spectacle and pouring salt in the wound simply for rating. Robert Deniro plays NY detective Eddie Flemming, a burnt out hero cop who stages busts so the press can see him in action and get the scoop. When two demented, psychopathic eastern European guys come to town to collect an old debt, they go on an impulsive crime spree and discover that by filming their crimes and peddling the footage to a sleazeball news network they can gain money, and notoriety. Fleming and a rookie arson investigator (Ed Burns) are soon on their trail as their rampage reaches feverish heights of heinous villainy. Karel Roden, an astoundingly good Czech actor, gives the best work of the film as the lead nut job, giving us a grinning, cunning, joker esque portrait of evil. MMA fighter Oleg Taktarov is deadpan good as his child like, brutish companion. Kelsey Grammar plays the amoral, smutty news anchor expertly, and there's great work from David Alan Grier, Melinda Kanakaredes, Vera Farmiga, and a nice cameo from Charlize Theron. The film knows it has to be unpleasant to get its point across, and has fun with the twitchy, almost Tony Scott like excess of style. The heart of the film rests with Roden and Taktarov though, follow in them almost like protagonists and letting them do their thing, like a nightmare, Slavic version of Laurel and Hardy. It's a deliciously twisted little flick with some cool ideas, a great cast and a cheerfully trashy style.

dreadnaugt This movie starts out interestingly enough, but right from the start it suffers from Identity crisis. Who's the main character? Bad guys, good guys? Firemen? Police? It has split your attention 3 ways and it's not easy to enjoy from that mistake. Also, the film is supposed to be funny sometimes, and you think Deniro has a new sidekick. Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Is it a cop movie? Or a news movie? Then before you know it, the character they spent the whole movie teaching you about:with details about his love life, his crime scene investigation, his history with the media, is dead. Not a good way to go 3/4 of a way through. If Titanic had detailed the lives of 5 characters on board the ship, killed of Jack before the boat went down, made the ice berg a character, and gone in so many directions it would have been a flop too. The producers new they had a flop on their hands, and they tried to fix it by releasing it late. Woops....did not work.

Chris Haskell There is a ton I was offended by watching this preach-a-minute, vapid attempt at an intelligent action/political film. Here are the main things, lest I begin to ramble:1. Ethnocentric World View - This is supposed to be an indictment of American media? Message movies that play to cultural stereotypes drive me crazy. These two Eastern European thugs come to America, watch a show about forgiveness, and decide that they're going to teach America a lesson by embarking on a murderous rampage? If this was made a few years later it would have been two Muslim men instead of Russian. This is terrible, mainly because the writer is trying to present these lofty ideas about humanity and the immorality of American media, all the time while playing to cultural stereotypes that do nothing but reinforce racism. The low-brow stereotypes don't stop there either, David Alan Grier has a cute part where he is an angry black guy in the park who tried to rob the wrong guy. His relevance to the plot? Nothing but to add a little touch of humor ... seriously? 2. Hypocrisy - This film was distributed by New Line Home Video, an 'indie' subsidiary of Warner Bros. Super progressive Warner Bros. who are major players in the empire 15 Minutes is coming out against. Why would Warner Bros, or New Line, put out a movie that could incite a revolution and cause millions of people to reevaluate the way they watch media? Well, Bobby De Niro's in it, so you know it's good for at least breaking even ... plus the movie is no good, so no one will really talk about it.The real crime, however, and the major reason I believe it didn't work, it that it is just so incredibly smug. There are other 'message' movies that exist that all fall into the same pitfalls as I discussed above, but 15 Minutes is so smug and pretentious about it's message that it falls flat.Rating: 16/40