| 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out | |
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US Poster |
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| Directed by | Yves Simoneau |
| Produced by | Michael R. Goldstein |
| Written by | Tim Metcalfe |
| Starring | Michael Madsen Ron Livingston |
| Music by | George S. Clinton |
| Release date(s) | June 5, 2003 (USA) |
| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out is a 2003 American film directed by Yves Simoneau. The film premiered on the FX Network in June 2003.
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The plot, about bank robbers held at bay by the Los Angeles Police Department, is based on an actual incident which occurred February 28, 1997 known as the North Hollywood shootout. Homicide detective Frank McGregor (Michael Madsen) tracks a violent duo of bank robbers: Larry Eugene Phillips, Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu.
The film opens with scenes of police officers getting ready for work in the morning interspersed with scenes of the robbers Phillips and Mătăsăreanu preparing to loot an armoured bank truck. Officer Donnie Anderson (Ron Livingston) is mourning the death of his policeman father. He displays a lack of attention on his SWAT assignment and is forced by his superior to take time off. Meanwhile, the staff at the North Hollywood branch of Bank of America are preparing for start of business.
Phillips and Mătăsăreanu park outside the branch and wait for the armoured truck. They are frustrated when the truck does not turn up and decide on robbing the branch instead (the bank had altered the delivery schedule). They wear black masks and enter the branch firing at the roof with their AK-47s. An LAPD patrol car happens to pass by at the same time. The officers spot the robbers entering the bank and call it in.
The manager is forced to open the vault and fill a duffel bag with all the cash in the branch. When the robbers are turned away from him the manager places a stack of notes with the dye used for tracking purposes. By the time Phillips and Mătăsăreanu collect all the cash, numerous LAPD patrol cars and officers surround the branch and roadblocks are set up. The robbers spot the officers and exit the branch firing their weapons.
The officers are unable to stop them due to their low-calibre weapons and also since the robbers are wearing bullet-proof vests. Donnie listens to the call on his radio, gathers his SWAT team and races to the shoot-out location. After several minutes of firing and injuries to officers and civilians, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu decide to make a getaway. Mătăsăreanu drives their car while Phillips walks beside the car firing at the officers.
On Archwood Street Phillips separates from Mătăsăreanu and starts firing at the officers following them. While reloading, his rifle malfunctions. He draws his pistol and shoots himself through the chin. At the same instant he is also shot by Frank. Mătăsăreanu car-jacks a pickup truck after the tires of his getaway car are shot out. However, he is unable to start the truck. The SWAT team corner him and he takes cover behind his car. A close-range gun battle ensues. The SWAT team fires below the cars at Mătăsăreanu's legs since they are unprotected. Finally he goes down and surrenders. It is later shown that he bleeds to death.
The closing scenes are real-life images of LAPD officers receiving medals of valor and the public sending them thank-you notes and flowers in appreciation of their heroic effort.
The building in the actual robbery was in North Hollywood, but the building used in the film was a vacant bank in a strip mall in La Habra, California. All of the scenes that are on the residential streets where the robbers fled were filmed on the actual locations.
The real gunmen also were nicknamed the 'High Incident Bandits' and the shootout was also the basis for the final episode of the 1996-1997 ABC-TV police drama High Incident. The episode, "Shootout", takes place in the parking lot of an empty building, which serves as "El Camino City Bank" in the fictional suburb of El Camino. Surrounding Valley neighborhoods are used to film scenes in which officers hunt down fleeing robbers.
"44 Minutes" is a song by the American thrash metal band Megadeth, which appears on their twelfth studio album, titled Endgame, which was released on September 15, 2009, written by frontman Dave Mustaine.[1] The third song on the album, the song's lyrics portray the events of the North Hollywood shootout, that occurred in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles on February 28, 1997.[2][3][4] Though never released as a single from the album, the song has been played live by the band on several occasions.[5] The name is derived directly from this film.