 |
|
|
|
Mon. Mar. 26, 2001
|
|
|
Art & Culture > Movie &Theatre > Archive
|
|
|
|
|
|
Movie Review: 15 Minutes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Can we ever get enough De Niro (not to be confused with dinero - money)? Apparently not, moviegoers seem to think!
After starring in over 70 films, Robert De Niro is back in action in 15 Minutes where he is accompanied by the talented Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan). Written and directed by John Herzfeld, producer of the hit 2 Days in the Valley, the movie is about what some people will go through to get their 15 minutes of fame.
Two foreigners, just minutes off the airplane, plan to make it big in America by getting on television. In order to do this, Oleg (Oleg Taktarov) and his accomplice Emil (Karel Roden) have decided that they need only to catch the media's attention and so they "five finger" discount some electronic goods and begin a rampage in Manhattan. Enter Inspector Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns), Detective Eddie Flemming (Robert De Niro) and TV shock jock Robert Hawkins (Kelsey Grammar) - all bound to the case, each for his own reason, the most compelling of which is Detective Flemming's.
A couple of bodies and prime time minutes later, the story rapidly unfolds into a full-blown action movie - with the usual extreme violence, speedy transitions, and unsurprising rescue plots.
However, despite its normality, it is quite clear that Herzfeld has a far more insightful intention for producing the film than just making an action flick. There is a powerful underlying message in the movie. If viewers watch and listen closely, it comes across that Herzfeld is not a big fan of the media - particularly not of talk shows.
Accordingly, many will wholeheartedly agree with his critique of mass media while others will find it too opinionated. One thing is for sure; one cannot help but to agree with some of his views. For example, the villains believe that you can get away with anything in America because that is how they perceived our society through the foggy lenses of television.
Despite perhaps that being a farfetched belief, one only has to turn on the TV to catch the analogy that Herzfeld is pitching. For instance, the number of "extreme" TV shows has dramatically increased - like the infamous Jerry Springer Show and the many other mindless talk shows that rule afternoon time slots. Have we become so desensitized that Faces of Death will become the next prime time hit? These are hard questions to answer - only time will tell what hideousness the media will air next.
Because he challenges the role of media and our blind acceptance (and support) of what it chooses to feed us (reminding us that its distasteful programming is, for the most part, merely a reflection of what we have indicated we desire to watch, and strongly suggesting that we question our own tastes), I feel that Herzfeld's effort should be commended.
Overall, 15 Minutes is an enjoyable film, featuring heavy star power. However, surprisingly, its message surpasses what the naked eye can see. 15 Minutes caters to both those who are just interested in passing time as well as to those who actually invest at least 15 minutes of thought into a movie.
|
|
|
 |
what is this?
This widget will help you to store, organize, search, and manage your favorite online content through a range of social bookmarking services. These services permit users to save links to websites that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, but can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, or shared only inside certain networks. Authorized people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or through a search engine. Most social bookmarking services also permit their users to vote and rank public bookmarks to determine which are the best ones according to the number of votes they get.
|
 Send
content to your friend |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Contact Art & Culture
|
|
|
|
|
IslamOnline.net is not responsible for the content of external linked Web sites.
|
|
|
|
|
