I'd say a lot of the reviewers here focus too much on the 'message' of this film i.e. the idea that it's satirising the media's exploitation of violence blahblah. Thing is, the film never states anything about that directly; it's a thriller; and the first half (at least) is really well scripted and directed ,with great 3-dimensional characters, characters who speak to each other in a refreshingly likable way. One IMDb critic has stated, after seeing this film, that '...de Niro is now reduced to playing cardboard cut outs of himself...' What does that mean???? de Niro is an actor, playing different people - who exactly is 'himself'?
Anyway, in 15 Minutes de Niro, with a bit of fire in his belly, does anything but a cardboard cut out of a Scorcese anti hero. He is mercurial in this role, and reminiscent of the detective he played in Midnight Run.
I love it when de Niro plays a character you can trust, an ordinary but heroic man who does not have a psychopathic sting in the tail. He seems to take on a strange aura, in this role, being extremely watchable - as strange as it sounds, and maybe I am hallucinating here, he does on occasion have some vague John Wayne quality, and I would love to see him in a remake of e.g. Hondo!!!
With a bloody good script, and good direction, this film seems to bring that something extra out of the great actor's performance.
And inevitable this quality infects and lifts other aspects of the movie....
Anyway, in 15 Minutes de Niro, with a bit of fire in his belly, does anything but a cardboard cut out of a Scorcese anti hero. He is mercurial in this role, and reminiscent of the detective he played in Midnight Run.
I love it when de Niro plays a character you can trust, an ordinary but heroic man who does not have a psychopathic sting in the tail. He seems to take on a strange aura, in this role, being extremely watchable - as strange as it sounds, and maybe I am hallucinating here, he does on occasion have some vague John Wayne quality, and I would love to see him in a remake of e.g. Hondo!!!
With a bloody good script, and good direction, this film seems to bring that something extra out of the great actor's performance.
And inevitable this quality infects and lifts other aspects of the movie....