44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out is a 2003 American made-for-television crime film directed by Yves Simoneau. The film premiered on the FX Network in June 2003. It is based on the 1997 North Hollywood shootout.
Homicide detective Frank McGregor (Michael Madsen) tracks a violent duo of bank robbers: Larry Eugene Phillips, Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu, who were named the High Incident Bandits by the LAPD.
On the morning of February 28, 1997, police officers get ready for work, while Phillips and Mătăsăreanu prepare to loot an armored bank truck. Meanwhile, SWAT officer Donnie Anderson (Ron Livingston) is mourning the death of his father, who was a policeman for over 31 years. He displays a lack of coordination with his unit during a raid on an apartment building, which almost causes one of his team members to be left alone with suspects, and is forced by his superior to take time off. Meanwhile, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu park outside the North Hollywood branch of Bank of America and wait for the armored truck to arrive. They are frustrated when the truck does not turn up and decide on robbing the bank instead. Donning black masks and homemade body armor, they enter the branch, firing at the roof with AK-47s. At the same time, an LAPD patrol car passes by and the officers observe the robbers entering the bank and call in a 211 for an armed robbery.
Phillips and Mătăsăreanu force the manager to open the vault and fill a duffel bag with all of the cash in the branch. While Mătăsăreanu has his back turned, the manager places a stack of notes rigged with a dye pack. With other officers arriving and setting up positions surrounding the bank, Phillips is shocked to see dozens of them and decides to walk outside, firing at them with his AK-47 and quickly being joined by Mătăsăreanu. The officers are heavily outgunned in the shootout. Anderson listens to the call on his radio, gathers his SWAT team, and races to the bank. After several minutes of firing and injuring both officers and civilians, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu decide to make a getaway. Mătăsăreanu drives their car while Phillips walks beside it and provides cover fire.
On Archwood Street, Phillips separates from Mătăsăreanu and starts firing randomly at the pursuing officers. While reloading, Phillips' AK-47 jams, and he is unable to clear it. He draws a pistol. Raising the finger, he continues firing at the officers. Then, he turns the pistol on himself, shooting himself under the chin while being simultaneously shot by McGregor. Meanwhile, Mătăsăreanu carjacks a pickup truck but is unable to start the engine since the driver disabled the fuel tanks before fleeing. The SWAT team arrives and corners Mătăsăreanu, who then takes cover behind his car, and a close-range gunfight ensues. The SWAT team eventually fires below the cars at Mătăsăreanu's legs; Mătăsăreanu is repeatedly hit in the feet and legs. Severely wounded, he drops his weapon and surrenders. It is later revealed that he dies of his gunshot wounds at the scene before paramedics can arrive.
- June 5, 2003 (2003-06-05)
- Mătăsăreanu's converted AR-15 has a full-length barrel, in real life, it was shortened.
- The physical appearances of the robbers were swapped
- Emil Mătăsăreanu hijacks a pickup truck when his getaway vehicle is rendered inoperative after gunshots in both real life and film. The movie depicts his inability to operate the truck due to the owner disabling the fuel pump wherein the real Mătăsăreanu was unable to operate the truck due to his unfamiliarity of manual transmission driving. His death however, remains the same.
- Phillips' death in the film remains the same in real life wherein he shot himself in his chin. Omitted from his death in the movie are his being shot in the hand and the police firing at him as his body fell. The addition of McGregor shooting him simultaneously as Phillips's commits suicide as well as omissions of police shooting him while he lay dead, makes Phillips' death different from the real incident.
...
Wikipedia
