88 Minutes DVD

...much anything he is offered. 88 Minutes is not a classic, but it's a sign that this star is about to start polishing his awards again.

Jack Gramm is a forensic psychiatrist, as well as doing his actual job, he is a university lecturer and kind of celebrity when it comes to murder trials, his face appears on every TV channel during the big trials, as a result he is a face that is loved....and hated. What starts as an ordinary day for ...
...Jack telling him he has 88 minutes to solve his own murder; and almost instantaneously Jack's life starts to fall apart. As the bodies pile up, and a variety of horrific events follow Jack as he makes his way around the city, Jack has to turn to his students for help. 88 minutes is Scooby Doo for adults with the real time element of 24 to give it a touch of spice.


88 minutes has a cast of stars from yesterday, which is the ... more

I first published this review over a year ago, however in a recent update to the Ciao system the review and the product were jettisoned from the website. As luck would have it though over a year on the movie now is scheduled for a cinema release this summer. So I have updated the review, and made some edits.

Anyone seen a good Al Pacino movie lately? I don't believe I have seen a movie of his for 10 years that I'd watch more than once He had a nice run in the 90's Scent Of A Woman, Glengarry Glen Ross, Carlito's Way, Heat, The Devil's Advocate, and on some levels you could even include Frankie & Johnny and Godfather 3; but then it seems, or at least in my eyes he has become the American version of Michael Caine signing to pretty much anything he is offered. 88 Minutes is not a classic, but it's a sign that this star is about to start polishing his awards again.

Jack Gramm is a forensic psychiatrist, as well as doing his actual job, he is a university lecturer and kind of celebrity when it comes to murder trials, his face appears on every TV channel during the big trials, as a result he is a face that is loved....and hated. What starts as an ordinary day for Jack; a one night stand with a woman he met only hours before, turns incredibly strange within minutes. A student he was out with only the previous night is found horrifically murdered, she had been tortured and left hanging by her foot from the ceiling of her apartment.

The events of the day soon echo around Seattle as the murder bares a striking resemblance to one that put a man on death row. That same man Jon Forster is due to be executed that very day. The district attorney is keen to get the death row sentence quashed or suspended until further investigations reveal the truth.

Not a good start to the day as for Jack this whole situation could put his career in jeopardy, luckily for him then that his career becomes the last thing on his mind when an anonymous caller rings Jack telling him he has 88 minutes to solve his own murder; and almost instantaneously Jack's life starts to fall apart. As the bodies pile up, and a variety of horrific events follow Jack as he makes his way around the city, Jack has to turn to his students for help. 88 minutes is Scooby Doo for adults with the real time element of 24 to give it a touch of spice.

88 minutes has a cast of stars from yesterday, which is the first most noticeable thing about the movie, some of the actors really made it others shone for a bit before vanishing into obscurity, one thing is for sure is that whoever cast for this movie had an agenda to revitalise as many names as they could, so its here I start first up is Alicia Witt, this actress first turned up in Dune in 1984 from there she went on to Twin Peaks, Cybil and a variety of movies. In 1994 she starred as Bonnie in the critically acclaimed movie "Fun" in which she and her friend decide to kill an old lady because they were bored. Since Fun Witt has almost completely disappeared popping up in cameo roles over the last few years in shows that more often than not fail. Here Witt stars as Kim Cummings; Gramms favourite student whom she has held a torch for, for several years. Right up in the front seat where she belongs as Pacino's co-star Witt provides the same blend of attractiveness, intelligence, and mystery that made her a star years ago. As with all the characters in the movie her role as Kim has something a little hidden, and you could say creepy hidden in her past.

Next up we have the more recent star in Leelee Sobieski, five years ago she was set to be the next big thing, with everyone that could desperately trying to sign her up. Movies like The Glass House Joyride AKA Roadkill, Max, Eyes Wide Shut, and My First Mister all gave her a massive springboard to stardom, but after staring in the ill fated Wicker Man remake Sobieski was completely washed out. Sobieski has the same sort of appeal as Jodie Foster had, no great oil painting but incredibly attractive to a certain eye. Her acting talent cannot be viewed at in a bad light, though I do find the fact that she talks like she has a bunged up nose all the time a bit irritating. In 88 Minutes Sobieski plays Lauren Douglas another favourite student of Gramm, although she sits in the shadow of Kim, her knowledge of the law is way advanced of Kim's. When making legal statements her responses are well thought out and always pack a punch.

Amy Brenneman stars as Shelley Barnes an ex student turned P.A. for Gramm; if it were not for the fact that she was a lesbian Shelley would be the ideal partner for Gramm, he see's her as the woman that would be able to tame his wild womanising ways. Amy Brennemen is possibly best known for her own show called Judging Amy which she starred as the lead character, and also wrote all of the 133 episodes of this piece of daytime TV pastiche. In 88 minutes she has a strong outlook, but when it comes to the crunch a weakened heart. All the way through the movie you are waiting for Shirley to become the next victim of a serial killer, Gramm frequently puts her in real danger but for whatever reason she is never targeted.

Supporting actor William Forsythe plays Frank Parks, a long time friend of Gramm and a decorated but controversial police officer. Forsythe has never been far from the public eye, and has starred in movies frequently since 1980, the only issue for Forsythe is that he never quite makes the big time with movies like Halloween (Rob Zombie version), Devil's Rejects, Blue Streak, Deuce Bigalow, The Rock and Dick Tracy all firmly under his belt Forsythe has starred with the finest actors. In 88 minutes his performance is great as a cop you never know if you can trust or not, his cutting manner always goes straight for the throat. His friendship with Gramm is obviously put to the test as each time a murder victim is found it points straight back to Gramm.

A final mention must go to Deborah Kara Unger this on off actress has been in some of my favourite movies The Game, Payback, and the TV show Bangkok Hilton to pick a few. She was highly controversial in the movie Crash as the wife of James Spader's character; her willingness to appear naked and in a range of sexually charged scenes made Deborah a reject in Hollywood for a while, with nobody wanting to cast her because of the association that Crash bought with it. As Carol she gets to play a strong role, she is the Faculty head of the University that Gramm works in and not afraid to say what she thinks and when in order to get her own way.

And O.C. fans I'm not discounting Benjamin McKenzie as the final element of Gramm's Scooby Doo team, but his role is kind of hollow in 88 minutes, you see little of him and he says even less, I personally believe his only purpose in the movie was to drag a popular fan base across with him; but really does anyone actually watch the O.C. anymore? After all how many fights can one kid get into?

The story itself is obviously a quick and action packed one, after all from the moment of the first phone call Pacino is shooting all over the City with an 88 minute deadline to find a killer, before he himself becomes the next victim. The problem being is that the movie itself is very much TV quality stuff, which is not necessarily a bad thing if you're watching it on TV, but if you're going out and spending money on cinema tickets you might be a little disappointed. That being said if you love the likes of 24 so much that you'd go to the cinema to see it then 88 minutes will fail to disappoint. Just for me I found elements of it a bit hollow, something I guess that is echoed in my Scooby Doo statement; all the way through this movie I kept thinking "This is like Scooby Doo" I guess this is not a particularly endearing way to describe a movie, its just a thought I could not get out of my mind. It's not surprising that I might make the comparison from big screen movie to TV when you look at the cast after all you have lead actors from The O.C., Battlestar Gallactica, Judging Amy, NY-LON, Stargate, CSI, Kyle XY, and Lilies all in pivotal roles in the movie.

Having accused the movie of falling into TV movie territory there are various things that make it far from TV stuff, the murders for example, the mental images of torture the movie burns into your head, and the scale of some of the scenes, remind you that this is a proper movie. I found something about the murders really quite disturbing, kind of sensitive, rather like dragging your fingernails down a blackboard (for any of you old enough to remember what a black board is); and I guess this is partly to do with the familiarity you have with the cast, you could quite literally turn on your TV now and see any of these actors. The other issue is the fact that every victim is left suspended from a ceiling with rope or twine wrapped round their leg.

The storyline is well thought out, and I guess it needs to be because you have 88 minutes of film-making that need to have a sense of urgency about them. Most movies get a level of cool off time, but 88 Minutes does not give our characters chance to relax. All side and back stories are told quite literally on the run. And even then some of those back stories are really never properly addressed, but maybe that's intentional.

What is nice about the movie is the fact that the major plot and the killers identity remain a very well kept secret, and when you look back having discovered who the killer is, it all seems logical at the time you are completely oblivious to who the killer is, and ultimately shocked by the discovery.

88 Minutes is a movie that's in limbo I reviewed this movie in the spring of 2007, at the time of writing this no US or UK Cinema release date has been given although June/July 2008 seems likely, this generally means they are waiting on reviews for another movie before they launch this on an unsuspecting world. I have a suspicion the movies launch is due to tie in with the release of Righteous Kill the movie reuniting Pacino with Robert DeNiro. Preview audiences seem to enjoy it, as did I to certain levels, but I'd certainly not make the effort to go to the cinema to see it. If it was on DVD or on TV then I'd certainly watch it, but to go out to see it, I'd not bother. Not because there is anything wrong with the movie, other than the fact that it is aimed at a high octane audience, and clearly this is based more on thought than action. Maybe a re-think on the publicity that goes alongside the movie and the trailers might rectify this issue. But certainly in light of recent Pacino works this is a return to form for this great actor, my only hope is that enough people get to see it. 

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