Thanks to all who have rated & left comments on my reviews this year - I hope you all had a fab xmas...
Thanks to all who have rated & left comments on my reviews this year - I hope you all had a fab xmas and all my best wishes for the New Year - x hev
Member since:08.04.2008
Reviews:61
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88 Minutes
I don’t get to sit down and watch a film very often. Due to the kids shouting ‘Mum’ every five minutes but yesterday evening I managed to have an hour or so to myself. I routed through the sale DVD rack at the local shop to find a film to watch for the evening. In the end as my partner decided to join me in picking a film we choose a film starring Al Pacino. My partner is a fan and I always think he is great in his films. 88 Minutes is a thriller mystery film based in Seattle. The plot sounded quite sinister and even though I usually prefer comedies or light hearted films I thought we would get an action film for a change. The DVD was only £4.99 so I was hoping it would be good. The front cover of the DV is quite mysterious and reminded me of other action films such as The Bourne Identity. There were not a lot of familiar names in the cast list but that never really makes a difference when I choose a film.
As I got my popcorn and sat down finally after all the rushing around. Now being back teaching I was really looking forward to sitting and relaxing for a few
hours.
* CAST *
Al Pacino – Jack Gramm Kim Cummings – Alicia Witt Leelee Sobieski – Lauren Douglas Shelly Barnes – Amy Brenneman Frank Parks – William Forsythe Jon Foster – Neal McDonough Carol Lynn Johnson – Deborah Kara Unger
* STORY *
Jack Gramm is a highly respected and known psychologist consultant who unravels murder cases. He teaches at the local university and is very intelligent. There becomes a series of murders which Gramm manages to find the guy and he is found guilty. After a number of years, more murders are apparent and they are all done in the same way as the one years ago. People accuse Jack of wrongly accusing Jon Foster but he is adamant he is right. He received a phone call whilst in Uni saying that he has 88 minutes to live, giving him that long to crack the murder case of the new murders.
The script is not bad but does lack a rhythm. The plot is pretty simple and even though we have a few twists many scenes were floating along. There are some slow, tasteless scenes which I think could have been cut. What I did like about the film is that when Jack is thinking of the killer you get a feeling who it might be then it changes. Everyone looks like a suspect in this film and it was really good at keeping you guessing until the end. This makes you feel really involved as though you are trying to figure it out the same time as Jack.
* My VIEWS *
The film was very mysterious and dark. There is some graphic violence in the movie which I do not really like but it gave the murders a frightening feeling. It needed to create a horrific scene and it does this well. The movie starts on the day the serial killer is convicted and it jumps straight into the action. There were some bad pats to the narrative which were unnecessary, such as the number of phone calls he gets through the 88 minutes. They tried to make other ways of showing you how long he has left by the writing and message left
* Characters *
Al plays a brilliant protagonist and you follow his character well. He plays a tough guy in most of his movies but this he seemed to be the opposite and very venerable. You feel sorry for Jack has you find that he does not have much luck and has had a bad past. Al is a fine actor and even though this is evident in the film he does seem to be restricted from the lack of script in some scenes. He makes the film interesting and plays his role with the usual highest standards.
There are many background characters along side Jack. Some were recognisable from other films but would not be able to name them without looking at the cast list. There were some strong characters including many independent working women. The class Jack teaches is also much ranged and the students seemed to suit their roles. Jack has a special bond with Kim Cummings who has a school girl crush on him. I think he seems to look at her rather like a sister or daughter.
• Filming
The majority of the film was quite fast paced and interesting bar several scenes. There is decent action and good music to grab the atmosphere. It isn’t the best psychological film I have seen but it is not too bad either. There were a lot of action based scenes including gun fights, car chasing and running for your life. I did like the atmosphere created by the shoots and music which gave the film a mystifying feel.
* INFO *
Director- Jon Avnet Writer- Gary Scott Thompson Release date- 3 October 2008 Certificate- 15 Runtime- 108 Mins
DVD
The DVD can be brought online for around £6. The DVD does not include any special features.
OVERALL
It is defiantly not the best thriller I have seen but it is certainly worth a watch. The action is good and Al’s character is brilliant. It is quite a long film and it drags a little but I would recommend to hire it out. I would give the film an overall 7/10.
Thank you for reading. x hev
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Sep 4th, 2009
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