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 Director
: John Herzfeld
Starring
: Robert De Niro, Edward Burns, Kelsey Grammer, Avery Brooks,
Melina Kanakaredes, Karel Roden, Oleg Taktarov, Vera Farmiga.
Picture
2.35:1 Anamorphic, DD 5.1 and DTS 5.1, Single Side, Dual-Layer,
Keep Case
Running
Time : 116 mins
The
story:
"In
the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." - Andy
Warhol, 1967
Two
Eastern-European men arrive in the US to collect their money
but they're too late - it's been spent. Not wanting to leave
empty-handed the duo hatch a plan to make them rich. They
commit some murders and videotape the event. The ratings-hungry
media will be fighting for the footage especially if there's
enough public interest. And by exploiting a loophole in
the law, they wont even be imprisoned either. What they
didn't count on was veteran homicide detective (Robert DeNiro)
and a young Arson Investigator hot on their trail.
The summary:
Very
much based around the tabloid TV and journalism in the US,
15 Minutes takes a different angle on the typical action
thriller by mixing in some controversial media satire. Two
shadey Eastern-European visitors commit some murders, videotape
them and try to gain money and fame from the video footage
by exploiting a loophole in the legal system. Eddie and
Jordy (DeNiro and Burns) are the buddy heroes on their trail
and Robert Hawkins (Grammer) is the host of Top Copy,a tabloid
news show, who seems to spring up just about everywhere.
It just so happens that Eddie is a respected Cop and a seasoned
pro at exploiting the media for his own credibility.
It
all seems a bit gimmicky to me, but if you're convinced
that the fights that take place on Jerry Springer are for
real then you'll probably disagree. The problem I have with
the film is not so much the tabloid element, but the way
it's presented and explained. If Top Copy is a top-rated
show then how comes poor Robert Hawkins has to do all the
work himself? Surely he doesn't research every story himself?
He'd never sleep.. The characters are very well played,
I really cant fault the cast, but I'm just not convinced
that Jordy - an Arson Investigator - can just take off and
shadow a cop without any real explanation other than he
takes an interest in the case. Who's investigating the other
arsons? The buddy-buddy thread of the film seems a little
too enforced at times and distracts from the real message
of the film that John Herzfeld intended.
However,
15 Minutes does have some good (and valid) points to make
about the media and what makes good viewing. Without wanting
to tread on dangerous ground, big news stories and tragedies
do sell more papers and increase viewing figures - that's
a fact. People want to know about current affairs and whether
or not they are affected by it or have an influence on it
is irrelevant. What 15 Minutes does is look at the TV point
of view and takes things that one step further in an attempt
to boost ratings. Unfortunately the satire becomes lost
at times and violence is ultimately rewarded when Hawkins
befriends the killers. Surely even Jerry wouldn't stoop
this low?
With
mixed feelings about the film, my views on the disc are
quite clear. EIV have done a great job and for once, region
two isn't left with a cut-down poor relation of New Lines
superb region one release. The transfer is superb and we've
also gained a DTS 5.1 soundtrack, although it must be said,
it doesn't really improve on the DD 5.1 one. Extra's are
pretty much the same as New Line's release although we are
missing the 'infinifilm' element (the ability to branch
out from the film to the supplemental material). No great
shakes though as it's all still here but available from
the menu instead.
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