88 Minutes (2007)

Director:

Jon Avnet

Writer (WGA):

Gary Scott Thompson (written by)

Release Date:

18 April 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

He has 88 minutes to solve a murder. His own.

Plot:

In Seattle, the successful forensic psychiatrist and college professor Jack Gramm is in evidence since...

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Seattle | Forensic Psychiatrist | Death Row | Psychiatrist

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Al Pacino	...	Jack Gramm
Alicia Witt	...	Kim Cummings
Leelee Sobieski	...	Lauren Douglas
Amy Brenneman	...	Shelly Barnes
William Forsythe	...	Frank Parks
Deborah Kara Unger	...	Carol Lynn Johnson
Ben McKenzie	...	Mike Stempt (as Benjamin McKenzie)
Neal McDonough	...	Jon Forster
Leah Cairns	...	Sara Pollard
Stephen Moyer	...	Guy LaForge
Christopher Redman	...	Jeremy Guber
Brendan Fletcher	...	Johnny D'Franco
Michael Eklund	...	J.T. Rycker
Kristina Copeland	...	Dale Morris
Tammy Hui	...	Janie Cates

Also Known As:

88 Minutes (International: English title) (USA) (promotional title)
88 (USA) (closing credits title)
88: 88 Minutes (USA) (complete title)
88 minutos (Argentina) (Mexico) (Venezuela) [es]
88 Minutos (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
88 dakika (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
88 lepta (Greece) [el]
88 minuta (Croatia) [hr]
88 minutes (France) [fr]
88 minuti (Italy) [it]
88 minuuttia (Finland) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing violent content, brief nudity and language.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Germany | USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color (FotoKem)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS (uncredited) | SDDS (uncredited)

Certification:

Germany:16 | France:U (with warning) | Netherlands:16 | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-15 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | USA:R (No. 41493) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Spain:13 | Taiwan:R-12 | UK:15 | Ireland:16 | Chile:14 | Australia:MA | Singapore:NC-16 | New Zealand:R16 | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating)

Filming Locations:

Koerner Plaza, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

TriStar Pictures

Trivia:

Jon Avnet replaced James Foley as director.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Jack receives his first phone call while giving his lecture, he places his cell phone screen down. The next time it rings, the phone is screen-up.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Kate: Look at me. Look at the kite.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: (#7.38)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Ms. New Booty

Good for a thriller, not as bad as people are saying

I actually had pretty low expectations for '88 minutes' since Al Pacino's parts in 'two for the money' and 'ocean's 13', for instance, didn't exactly impress me, but it turned out I had more good things than bad things to say about this film after watching it.

In '88 minutes' Al Pacino plays Dr. Jack Gramm, a forensic psychiatrist known for handling cases of serial killers. This time, a convicted psycopath is hours away from his death and raises doubts on Jack's veredict on him, claiming he's innocent, and Jack receives a call warning him he has 88 minutes to live.

In the first place, the initial scene is absolutely unnecessary and predisposed me into thinking the film was going to be a huge mistake, where Al would be behaving like a young man, which is kind of ridiculous at his age. But it wasn't so; it was an isolated scene.

The plot is well built, coherent, and there are no unbelievable facts in it. The atmosphere around the time fading until Jack's death is overwhelming; there isn't a moment in which the viewer won't be excited, waiting for the next move.

Al's acting isn't special; at times I felt like he was numb, sleep-walking, with no reactions whatsoever, but his acting does get better throughout the film, as the suspense gets more intense – the interesting part is he does show that old energy from his classic films every now and then.

What really doesn't do it for me, actually, is that, lately it seems that, with very few exceptions, Al's characters not only have pretty much the same personality, but the same looks. He's always tan and wearing black, even in real life ! It sucks because to me, one of the greatest things about Al is his great capacity in characterization. He gets deep into every little detail in his parts, which is why each character looks and acts so different from one another. It seems like that's been lost lately.

Overall '88 minutes' is a good thriller, but I'd recommend it mostly for Pacino fans.