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The latest trend in movie trailers is to provide a condensed
version of the movie, plot twists and all.
Apparently film producers feel the American public wants to
know what they are buying before putting up the cash at the ticket
window. "Cast
Away" is a case in point.
Everyone who saw the trailer knew Tom Hank’s busy
character was going to be stranded on a desert island for years,
get skinny, get rescued and not get the girl (Helen Hunt).
It was all there in the trailer just in capsule form.
So when I saw the trailer for "15 Minutes", I figured I
saw the movie.
The "15 Minutes" trailer tells us that a couple of
Eastern European lowlifes capitalize on America’s guts and gore
fascination by filming their crimes and selling the video tapes to
ratings-seeking tabloid TV journalist Kelsey Grammer while trying
to elude investigators Robert De Nero and Edward Burns.
I assumed that the movie would be a shallow, violent
exploitation like last year’s shameful "8 MM".
Wow, was I wrong. Yes,
yes the basic story line provided by the trailer was there, but so
much more. I
literally left the movie breathless.
This movie has action, adventure, humor, real characters,
excellent story telling editing, cool cinematography, insights
into human nature, surprising twists and turns, and fairly good
dialog. Some
predictable scenes and cheap symbolism find their way onto the
screen, but this is such a smart film, I almost wonder if they
were put in on purpose to try to make us think the film will be
ordinary or even inserted to poke fun at Hollywood clichés.
The film has surprises, but what surprised me the most was the
humor. It seems
inconceivable to me that we can laugh in the middle of atrocity
– but the film makes us laugh.
I almost feel guilty that the filmmakers were able to make
me laugh, but they did.
"15 Minutes" teaches the sad lesson that society’s
lust for violence will likely lead to even more sensational
horrors, but does not offer us a solution.
We must figure that out for ourselves.
Once you see this movie it will not leave you.
Like De Niro’s "Taxi Driver" it leaves lasting
visual, moral and emotional images. This film will be referred to for years, far outlasting Andy
Warhol’s allotted 15 minutes of fame.
--
Pappy
( 4 out of 4 pops )
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about this film with other Popkorn Junkies |
