Fifteen Minutes

Written and directed by John Herzfeld, 15 Minutes is based on an intriguing premise. A cop and a fire investigator (played by De Niro and Burns respectively) have to team up to solve a number of high profile murder and arson crimes. Their efforts at catching the perpetrators are thwarted at every turn by a media desperate to hype the crimes, and glamourise the villains behind them - in this case, a pair of psychotic Eastern Europeans. All well and fine theory, but Herzfeld's ponderous script and direction doesn't pack the necessary punch. As is becoming tragically predictable with his career in latter years, De Niro never bothers to stretch himself, while Burns is completely out of his depth. As a thriller, 15 Minutes is very average stuff. A shame as it could have been so much more.