This movie makes you ask yourself a very important question: Has Robert Deniro completely forgotten how to act? Because he doesn't act very much anymore. He seems to always just be a parody of his previous roles, specifically Goodfellas and Raging Bull. I would like to start out this review with making a plea to you Mr. Deniro; We miss you and want you to return to complex characters with depth and attitude. Please stop taking bland roles in good films, which happens to be the case with this film. Your always give a decent performance but we've seen you do much better, the kind that gives us chills, and we'd like to see you return to those type of performances again. But anyway, on with the review...

Two immigrants go on a killing spree, filming their grisly crimes in hopes of gaining their fifteen minutes in John Herzfeld's blistering new film of the same name. The title is a reference to Andy Warhol's famous quote, "Everyone is famous for fifteen minutes."

Herzfeld is angry at a lot of different people in this film. He's angry at the media for spoonfeeding the public violent stories and not considering the consequences of turning criminals into celebrities. He's angry at the public for having such an insatiable appetite for misery and mayhem that reporters now follow the basic rule: If it bleeds, it leads. And he seems to be angry at Robert Deniro because that is the only reason I could think of for giving such a brilliant actor such hackneyed dialogue and such a one-dimensional character. Deniro, fortunately, is able to save himself (and the film) just by being Deniro.

His partner in pursuit of the bad guys, on the other hand, played by Ed Burns, is also hopelessly bland, but that seems more intentional-in order to let the true real stars of the film shine. Karel Rodin and Oleg Taktarov are absolutely brilliant as the clever and calculating Emil, and the fame-hungry Oleg, respectively. Rodin is able to turn a run-of-the-mill maniacal killer into a quirky yet menacing miscreant, while Taktarov is an incredible hulk on the outside, and a little boy with a pipe-dream on the inside, which we-the audience-gain access to with every look into his big puppy-dog eyes. Together they create villains that we wish would get apprehended as much as we want them to remain elusive just so we can see what they do next.

The first half of the film flounders at best as the actors desperately cling for some concrete characterization, but after a climatic turning point, the pace becomes more frenetic and drives furiously toward an enthralling and exciting ending. "15 Minutes" might not be perfect, but its powerful message and surprise performances make it worthy of 90 minutes of your time.

Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older