44 minutes is a short period of time in the grand scheme of life. On Feb. 28, 1997, 44 minutes must have felt like a lifetime for the LAPD in North Hollywood. It was the day that two heavily armed men walked into a Bank of America to rob it, and when they came out there was not intention of going to jail.
That is the subject of the new Fox DVD, 44 Minutes. The movie provides a re-enactment of that fateful morning. It allows viewers to meet, empathize and understand some of the key players in this real life drama.
Michael Madsen (Die Another Day, Reservoir Dogs) portrays the detective from robbery/homicide who had been tracking the men known as “The High Incident Robbers.” They were dubbed that because of the guns they used for their robberies and also the amount of violence in their crimes. Prior to the Feb. 28 incident, they had executed an armor car guard at point blank range, and Madsen’s character made it his personal mission to capture these thugs.
Ron Livingston (Office Space, Band of Brothers) plays the S.W.A.T. officer who leads his team into North Hollywood when the call went out for “officer needs assistance.” His character is on the edge and dealing with the loss of his father, a 30-year police veteran. In fact, that same day he was commanded to take a personal leave of absence to mourn his father’s death.
Mario Van Peebles (Ali, New Jack City) is the beat officer that actually made the move to help as many officers and civilians during the shootout. His character was the one shot severely by a gunman while trying to assist a civilian who had been hit. This led to a very dramatic scene in the film where Madsen’s character rushes in with a police car to retrieve the downed officer.
The event really happened, and the movie seems to keep the recollection accurate. It also does not try to make anything bigger, worse or better than what went down. Fans of the TV show America’s Most Wanted will like this film, because it is like watching one of their segments. The ending really shows how accurately the film re-created the events, because they show live footage while offering written details on the outcome of that day. The extras on the DVD include a better than usual making-of featurette and trailers for other 20th Century Fox titles.
Grade: A (movie) B (disc)
