`15 Minutes' isn't worth the time
By CHRIS BANNISTER
Scene Movie Critic
It would be frustrating to describe "15 Minutes" in one word, because it is not simply mediocre. Many mediocre films can produce some amount of satisfaction. However, "15 Minutes" teases the audience with shots of something better than the average film and then plunges dramatically into failure.
The film's plot is simplistic from the beginning. The story follows an arson investigator (Edward Burns) and a veteran police officer (Robert De Niro) as they attempt to track down two criminals who are on a murder spree around New York City.
However, this blasé concept is made somewhat interesting because one of the criminals, a cinema aficionado, is filming the crime spree with a home video camera. This provides the chance for the movie to create an intriguing, self-reflexive work. In fact, some of the early shots in the film that use footage from the home video camera are visually interesting and provide the groundwork for what might be an excellent film.
Instead, "15 Minutes" resolves its initial questions with perfunctory answers and turns its attention to being a run-of-the-mill action movie, thus blotting out any redeeming qualities it might have had.
Despite the presence of Burns and De Niro, who seem to be a powerful leading duo, all of the acting in the film is less than remarkable. Burns does an average job with his character in the film, and since his arsonist character is not much to begin with, the performance leaves much to be desired. Yet, it is understandable that Burns' character is underdeveloped. The film seems to want to provide a showcase for De Niro's talent and give the actor a character with depth and range; however, an evident lack of writing skill leads to the supposed many layers of DeNiro's character simply disappearing into a collection of choppy, extraneous details that are never explored in any depth.
However, the parade of banal characters does not stop with the leads. The television personality (Kelsey Grammer, TV's "Frasier") who purchases the video footage from the killers is gratingly annoying. Grammer has played Frasier Crane for so many years that he seems unable to produce anything significant outside that persona. His character in the film is just a vulgar version of his sitcom personality, and the charade is wholly ineffective.
Perhaps the most ineffective characters, though, are the film's villains. Like every action movie, they are of course foreigners from Russia who walk around speaking with heavy accents. It is as if no one reminded the filmmakers that the Cold War is over. Of course, the film could have infused something new into these villains and redefined generic characters; however, if the film does anything, it retreats and relies heavily on two obligatory "bad guy" performances.
As if the characters did not do enough injustice to whatever redeeming parts the film had, the ending is so trite that it is almost painful to watch. Refer to any "Die Hard," "Lethal Weapon" or Arnold Scharwztenegger movie to guess how it all ends.
Finally, while "15 Minutes" outdoes itself in its race towards mediocrity, it shifts tone for a horrendous final humor sequence. The scene is so out of place that it provides a crowning, solidifying touch on the idea that a film can have no knowledge of its purpose and waste itself away in convention.
"15 Minutes" is average at best, but it is made worse by the fact that it leaves the viewer feeling cheated.
--one and a half shamrocks (out of five)
All Scene Stories for Thursday, March 29, 2001
