15 Minutes

When Oleg and Emil arrive in New York from Eastern Europe, their first act is to steal a digi-cam. Then they murder the couple who ripped off their loot, torch the place and check in to a fleapit under the name 'Frank Capra'. Then they review the rushes. Already homicide cop Eddie Fleming (De Niro), arson investigator Jordy Warsaw (Burns) and tabloid TV reporter Robert Hawkins (Grammer) are vying for jurisdiction, but all the boys really want is a movie deal. Writer/director Herzfeld is best known for the stylish thriller Two Days in the Valley. His follow-up aspires to the hard-boiled satire of novelist Carl Hiaasen, but it's a total misfire, a reactionary revenge thriller with the American Dream as the sacrificial victim. Herzfeld works hard to bring in unusual textures and disrupt the predictable patterns of the tired buddy cop genre. He does muster a few surprises, but neither the director nor his actors seem at all sure of the tone they're after. It's too broad to engender any credible suspense, too violent to be more than fitfully funny - and too half-baked for its assault on tabloid irresponsibility to stand up in court.