tbills2 Hello I am Oleg from Mother Russia. No confuse please for dirty crazy man Oleg Razgul in 15 Minutes American movie. I am no crazy. I am fan for movie. No no I am not supreme Russian performer Oleg Taktarov as well but its okay to confuse me with him. Hahahahahahaha I make joke. Oleg Taktarov great man very sexy like hairy Siberian bear. Not like baby face Edward Burns look like young shaved boy. Edward must make women in America throw up meal in aisles of film theater. I sorry for Edward and he ugly face so no woman make love for him. Oleg make love to many woman many time. I love Vera Farmiga. Vera make Oleg very happy. Im not good at make English word for describe Vera so I hold while use Russian translator to make English. God Vera Farmiga looks just like absolutely gorgeous in 15 minutes honestly what the heck she's a really good actress man I love her this must have been the first movie I seen her too but I would definitely fall for Vera just like Burns' character did. Russian translator reign supreme over crappy American translator. Beautiful Robert De Niro best man at make believe. Thank you for my comrades liking review. This is Oleg to say go see 15 Minutes American movie. It is a very very very nice but crazy killer Emil very sad. Karel Roden is very good and almost steals show. In theaters now!

FlashCallahan When Eastern European criminals Oleg and Emil come to New York City to pick up their share of a heist score, Oleg steals a video camera and starts filming their activities, both legal and illegal. When they learn how the American media can make a remorseless killer look like the victim and make them rich, they target Detective Eddie Flemming and Fire Marshal Jordy Warsaw. They are investigating their murder and torching of their former criminal partner, filming everything to sell to the local tabloid TV show 'Top Story'.......Its a wonderful concept, murder someone who has a high profile, film and claim your insane, and not just become rich, become a media darling. It could have been a biting satire on reality TV, and how people take Andy Warhol's famous saying quite literal.But no, the makers go for a really strange mix of comedy and thriller, but the comedy just doesn't work due to the acts of the two criminals, even if they do remind one of Ren and Stimpy.Burns and De Niro are fine, but have zero chemistry together, and plausibility is thrown straight out of the window, so if you are looking for any sort of realism, which would have been very beneficial for this story, you are looking in the wrong place.If the humour was more evident, and the violence toned down, as well as the sinister streak it has, being over the top would have worked.It feels that there are two different versions of the script, and someone on set just bought a different version every other day. So the plot and story stay the same, but the narrative, and the feel of the film just end up very sporadic every now and again.For a throwaway movie, it has a point to the power of media, and how it influences many peoples opinions, but to go any deeper, would just expose the many plot holes this film has.

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

moviesleuth2 The hook that New Line Cinema is using to draw people into "15 Minutes" is that people are addicted to sensationalistic violence, and as one character puts it, "If it bleeds, it leads." The draw here is that there are two psychopaths who are using this known fact to bring themselves fame by documenting the gruesome murders that they commit and selling them to the media. While this is true, the social satire of the film is really only visible during the beginning and at the end. The bulk of the film is a standard order police procedural, but it's still engaging.Two immigrants, Emil (Karel Roden) and Oleg (Oleg Taktarov) have come to the United States to collect their share of a bank robbery they committed. When their cohort had spent their share of the loot, Emil kills him and the guy's girlfriend, while Oleg captures it on the camera he just stole. It doesn't take long before they realize the potential of filming their violent crimes. Hot on their trail are an alcoholic cop named Eddie Fleming (Robert DeNiro), who is the famed "pet" of tabloid guru Robert Hawkins (Kelsey Grammar, and arson investigator Jody Warsaw (Edward Burns).The film is a mixed bag. There are some good things about this film, and there are some that are awful. I'll give it credit for taking some chances and going in unexpected directions, but it also has some moments of jaw-dropping stupidity. And while there's some genuine tension in the film and the premise is interesting, I felt a little let down. Not only isn't the social satire original, it's not even effectively wedded into the main story. Also, I felt betrayed by the advertising of this film; I was expecting a cat-and-mouse type thriller between the cops and the criminals, and the media who is exploiting it. However, seeing as writer/director John Herzfeld wasn't trying to go for this angle (at least I hope not...), I can't really blame the film for this, just the studio.The acting is adequate. Eddie is a role that Robert DeNiro could do in his sleep. It doesn't require to stretch his range, but then again, DeNiro is still highly enjoyable to watch when he's not really trying, so it doesn't matter. Edward Burns seems a little out of his element, but his performance isn't a complete bust. The villains are the stars of the show. If you want a frighteningly psychopathic Russian villain, they don't come any better than Karl Roden. Emil is one nasty piece of work whose logic to his plan is frighteningly plausible. His counterpart, Oleg Takratov, isn't as smart and too starry-eyed by fame to be as dangerous as Emil, but he's not everything he seems to be. The part of Richard Hawkins deserves to be played in an over-the-top manner (is there any other way to play a Jerry Springer/Geraldo Rivera clone?), but Grammar doesn't go far enough to be truly vile, though I liked the fact that he gave Hawkins a small dose of humanity (whethere it was genuine or not is up for debate). Small parts by Melina Kanakaredes (who is wasted as Eddie's girlfriend), Vera Farmiga, and Charlize Theron (in a blink and you'll miss it appearance) are great.This isn't an especially bad film, but I don't know if there's enough good stuff to outweigh the bad.