Rating: Burnt Popcorn
Dr. Jack Gramm (Al Pacino), a professor who moonlights as a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI, has been giving a death sentence: he has 88 minutes to live. During the next 88 minutes, he must try to find his killer before time runs out.
88 Minutes falls apart from the get-go as the duration of the film is more than 88 minutes. In the beginning, we see the brutal murder of an Asian girl as her sister is sleeping. Just before the killer leaves, the sister wakes up to see the girl hanging upside down from the ceiling, with blood flowing down her body, but the sister does nothing to help out. Following the murder, we see the suspect being convicted of murder. Nine years later, which seems like a long waiting period to get revenge, Jack receives a death threat informing that he only has 88 minutes to live.
Throughout the movie Jack never takes the threat seriously as he’s always seen walking calmly, even during a bomb threat. Pacino’s character hardly says anything worthwhile as it is all small-talk.
What really annoys me in 88 Minutes is the phone call reminders of how much time Jack has left to live. It doesn’t create any suspense, but is just a reminder of how much time I have left to waste watching the film. I’m puzzled how his attacker knows where he will be at certain times.
88 Minutes, which takes places in Seattle, WA, and the University of Northwest Washington, is actually filmed in Vancouver, BC. It is obvious where the movie is shot as you can see some icons of Canadian businesses, such as BDC (Business Development bank of Canada) and Metro News (a Canadian newspaper that is distributed in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax). Another flaw with the setting is the time when Jack goes to the University of Northwest Washington’s Campus Security office. The office seems so big that it looks like the FBI’s, with every officer busy on the phone or interviewing witnesses.
Although Al Pacino is my favorite actor, he just doesn’t cut it in 88 Minutes. The problem is not just Pacino, but that the movie as a whole is a flop. When you hear of a movie that is filmed 2 years earlier, is already on DVD in Brazil and it’s length is longer than it’s title, you know before seeing it that it’s a failure. If you haven’t already picked it up from my ranting, 88 Minutes is definitely not a movie that you want to waste your money or time on!
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
Reel Ninja
I heard this movie was pretty bad
Thanks for the review.
ReelNinja
Apr 19th, 2008
admin
Yeah, it wasn’t too fun to watch…especially the annoying cell phone reminders…it just made me hate cell phones that much more!
Apr 19th, 2008
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