88 Minutes movie review
It's not often that I hire a DVD based solely on the blurb on the back of the cover, but that was the case with 88 Minutes. I walked into Blockbuster, wanted to see a film, and after picking up a few, settled on 88 Minutes, a psychological thriller, and vehicle for Al Pacino.
88 Minutes follows the story Jack Gramm (Al Pacino), a forensic psychiatrist and professor, who's testimony was largely responsible for the conviction of a serial killer, Jon Forster, nine years earlier. On the day the killer is scheduled to be executed, Jack receives a phone call telling him he has 88 minutes to live. Jack is then thrown into an investigation to try and learn the identity of his would-be assassin before his time runs out.
The film sets itself up as a 'who-dunnit' however, it doesn't really succeed, as basically anyone with a speaking role is set up to be the possible killer. I can honestly say though, that I had the killer pegged pretty as soon as the classic misdirection technique came into play (if you've seen the film you'll probably know the scene I'm talking about - it's when the film maker clearly wants you to think 'but it can't be that person because they've been... oh hang on... maybe they just wanted it to look like that...').
Besides Al Pacino, 88 Minutes features a range of actors that you'll know doubt recognise from various TV shows, even if you can't remember their names. For example, there's that chick for Judging Amy, that guy that used to be the brooding dude on the OC and that other chick that played Joan of Arc in a telemovie a while back.
88 Minutes was filmed in 2005 and didn't see release until late 2008, I guess that should have served as a warning. Maybe the studio was sitting on it hoping that it would hatch cinematic gold? Unfortunately the egg didn't hatch. 88 Minutes is an interested idea that gets bogged down with formulaic cliches. It's the sort of film you watch and can't help but think there was a lot of stuff cut out in the editing room. Overall I'd give it 2 out of 5.
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Tags: al pacino, movie review, Movies
Heh, I’ve actually seen this movie twice. Once in the movies and once at a friends house when we had nothing else to do and 88 minutes was on.
I kind of enjoyed it, it is one of those movies you can just stare at if you’re bored
That’s true , this movie is interesting. I had watched it once . When you think a person is given only 88 more min only to live, its something horrible.