15 Minutes

Never before in history have fame and the law been so closely, and so dangerously, aligned. With today's insatiable demand for high-octane television news, everyone from criminals and cops to lawyers and politicians has joined the ranks of attention-grabbing celebrities and hype generators. Murderers hire spin doctors and share their confessions in prime time. Meanwhile, everyone from thieving low-lives to the President's lawyers vie for their shot at the limelight. Crime, tragedy, chaos: we might fear them, but there's no denying that in today's world, they bring ratings, money and power.

So just how far will society's most desperate people go in order to get their "fifteen minutes"? And just how willing is the public to watch? These questions come hurtling to the fore in John Herzfeld's smart, searing thriller 15 Minutes, which brings the edge-of-your-seat thriller into the in-your-face Media Age. Herzfeld's fresh and original take on urban life-and-crime is laced with dark humor, riveting action and incisive social commentary about the troubling crossroads where cops and criminals meet the all-powerful television cameras.

At the center of 15 Minutes is a New York City double murder that must be solved. But the fast-paced story isn't so much about figuring out the truth of the murder, as following who controls that truth. This is the thriller as seen through an eye-popping new lens - that of the media's hunt for shocking imagery, no matter the cost. In 15 Minutes, as the cops chase the murderers, the media chases the cops, and the whole thing fuels an escalating firestorm.

Two-time Academy Award-winner Robert De Niro stars as superstar homicide detective and People Magazine cover boy Eddie Flemming, who knows how to handle high-profile homicides. But now, with a crime that has ended in a grisly fire, Flemming must team up with a rival: the low-key, media-despising Arson Investigator Jordy Warsaw, played by Ed Burns. As they track down a pair of Eastern European killers on a rampage across the city, they wrangle with each other over how or whether to use the media. But Eddie and Jordy soon fall one step behind the ferociously unpredictable and clever men they are after - because these criminals have learned how to spin their own stardom into an explosion of media and judicial madness.

Kelsey Grammer, Melina Kanakaredes, Avery Brooks, Karel Roden, Oleg Taktarov, Vera Farmiga and John DiResta also star in 15 Minutes, a New Line Cinema presentation of an Industry Entertainment production in association with Tribeca Productions. John Herzfeld directs from his original script. The producers are John Herzfeld, Nick Wechsler, Keith Addis and David Blocker.

Movie Details

Cast: Robert De Niro, Edward Burns, Kelsey Grammer, Avery Brooks, Melina Kanakaredes, Karel Roden, Oleg Taktarov, Vera Farmiga, John DiResta, James Wan, Darius McCrary, Bruce Le, Charlize Theron, Kim Cattrall, David Alan Grier
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 2hrs 0m
DVD Aspect Ratios: 2.35:1

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DVD Features:

Documentary: 15 Minutes Of TrueTabloid Stars

Documentary: Does Crime Pay?

Fact Track - Trivia Subtitle Track with Direct Access to Additional Features

Feature-Length Audio Commentary with Director John Herzfeld

Deleted Scenes with Director Commentary

"Oleg's Videos" - Video Footage Captured from the Actor's Perspective

God Lives Underwater Music Video: "Fame"

Original Theatrical Trailer

DVD-ROM Features:

Script-To-Screen Access to the Film

Link To Original Website

Exclusive Access To On-Line Infinifilm Features

International rating:

Europe: 18
Australia: MA

DVD International release dates:
North America: Aug 14, 01