Emil Slovak (Karel Roden), a vicious East European criminal just arrived in the U.S., is mesmerized by what he sees on the TV in his New York City hotel room. It's not the bonanza of consumer products and TV series that entrances him, but rather the tearful claims of victimization and temporary insanity which he hears people—many of them criminals—make on trashy talk shows. "I love America," Slovak proclaims to a fellow felon (Oleg Taktarov). "No one is responsible for what they do."
The media is the message in 15 Minutes, an initially clever crime thriller set in the post-O.J. Simpson era where cops, criminals and the press all meet to play the fame game. Media exposure is nothing new to Eddie Flemming (De Niro, electric as ever), a hard-drinking veteran police detective who's as skilled at nabbing headlines as he is at catching bad guys. He teams up with Jordy Warsaw (Burns), a young fire department investigator, to look into a double murder and arson, which the two men soon learn was committed by Slovak and his pal.
As long as 15 sticks to poking fun at the media (particularly an unctuous tabloid TV anchorman played by Grammer) and to Flemming and Warsaw sifting through evidence and tracking down suspects, the movie is solid enough. Written and directed by John Herzfeld (2 Days in the Valley), it goes wrong toward the end, when Warsaw goes gonzo and tries to make like Dirty Harry at his filthiest. Burns, to put it kindly, is no Clint Eastwood. When his character succeeds De Niro at the center of the action, the goings-on get pumped up beyond any believability, and 15 goes pffft.
The movie's best moment? De Niro slyly riffing on his classic "You talkin' to me?" scene from 1976's Taxi Driver. This time out, he's rehearsing sweet nothings to tell his TV reporter girlfriend (Kanakaredes) while standing in front of a men's room mirror. (R)
Bottom Line: Overstays its welcome
Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Featured attraction
STARS "1"
Memento is the Ginger Rogers of suspense films. This terrific movie, about one man's quest for vengeance, does everything a thriller is supposed to do: intrigue, involve and keep you guessing. And, like Fred Astaire's most famous dancing partner, it does it all backward.
The movie opens with its protagonist, Leonard (Pearce), holding a Polaroid showing the blood-spattered head of a man he has just shot. In the next scene we see Leonard shooting the man. And so on, each successive scene chronologically preceding the one it follows. The reverse storytelling reflects Leonard's own impaired mind. He has no short-term memory, the result of being bashed in the head by the man who Leonard believes raped and murdered his wife. It is this man whom Leonard seeks to find and kill. Because he can't remember whom he met 10 minutes ago, he has developed coping mechanisms: He takes Polaroids of people and writes reminders ("Do not believe his lies") on the back. He also tattoos important info (the first name and license plate number of his wife's killer) on his body so he won't forget it.
Tautly written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Memento grows ever more complex as it unfolds. Even Leonard may not be the man he remembers. Pearce (L.A. Confidential) is a revelation in the tricky leading role. Moss and Pantoliano, playing a barkeep and a pal who aid Leonard, are also first-rate. One leaves Memento eager to catch it again to make sure the pieces fit and to look for clues missed the first time around. And yes, it's even more satisfying on a repeat viewing. (R)
Bottom Line: Worth remembering
Douglas McGrath, Sigourney Weaver
It is Company Man's misfortune to demonstrate that a comedy can be smart without ever actually being funny. Again and again in this slight movie about the misadventures of a bumbling CIA agent (McGrath) in Cuba during the Communist revolution, one nods in recognition at a joke but remains unmoved. Take, for example, a late scene in which McGrath's knit tie slowly comes unraveled after the tip gets caught in a spinning roulette wheel. The idea is a corker, but the execution is painfully drawn out.
More's the pity when performers—including Weaver, Woody Allen and John Turturro—who have been darn funny elsewhere turn up here to mostly embarrassing effect, flailing wildly and mugging as if performing in a junior high school comedy sketch. McGrath, who cowrote and codirected this mess, also adapted and directed the delightful 1996 film Emma. Obviously he had better material, thanks to Jane Austen. (PG-13)
Bottom Line: Bad Company
Peter McDonald, Flora Montgomery
The title's echo of 1989's When Harry Met Sally...is intentional. Brendan (McDonald), the leading man of this appealing little Irish romantic comedy, is an uptight Dublin schoolteacher who is mad for the movies. When he meets Trudy (Montgomery), a free spirit who tells him that she works in a shop, she agrees to go to a vintage foreign film with him but only if the movie's in color. Brendan, it seems, has much to teach this lass.
Trudy, it turns out, is the one who will be doing the instructing—about life, love and the joy of stealing. When Brendan, based on an original script by Irish novelist Roddy Doyle (The Commitments) and snappily directed by newcomer Kieron J. Walsh, features appealing performances by its two leads and a chipper charm throughout. (Not rated)
Bottom Line: An emerald from the isle
>Down to Earth In a semi-amusing remake of Heaven Can Wait, Chris Rock earns laughs as a stand-up comic who, after dying, returns to earth as an older white guy. (PG-13)
Hannibal Not much of substance to chew on in this gruesome sequel to The Silence of the Lambs. FBI agent Clarice Starling (now Julianne Moore) hunts down a still-famished Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). (R)
The Mexican Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt have a swell time goofing their way through a determinedly quirky romantic comedy that will amuse if one is feeling generous. James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) costars. (R)
See Spot Run Pure kibble. Dumb, gross comedy with David Arquette about a man, a boy and an FBI-trained dog. (PG)
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
