88 Minutes - Film Review

Ever since I first saw Scarface as a teenager, I came to believe Al Pacino just might be one of the greatest actors to ever live. Back then, I thought the man could do no wrong, but then he decided to put my faith to the test by starring in Jack and Jill. That wasn't his first stinker though. This film was always a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, but it undoubtedly has some issues. I decided to revisit it after going several years since my last watch. What an experience that was...

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Where You Can Find It: I checked this out on Amazon Video where it is available for rent/purchase.

General Information 
88 Minutes is a suspense thriller film that was released on 18 April 2008 (and 2 March 2007 exclusively in Israel for some reason). It was directed and co-produced by Jon Avnet and distributed by TriStar Pictures. I wasn't all that familiar with Jon Avnet's work, but discovered that he also directed Righteous Kill (which would release one year after this film). I wasn't particularly taken with that film, but it gave us the chance to see Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro share the same screen again. I don't even remember this being in theaters (I originally saw it on HBO), but it apparently just barely squeaked out $32 million (with a $30 million budget).

I had heard that this movie was not well-received, but didn't realize just how poorly it was. It holds a 17 Metascore on Metacritic and a measly 5% on the Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes. Al Pacino and Leelee Sobieski were each nominated for Razzie Awards for their parts in this film (Worst Actor and Worst Supporting Actress respectively). Thankfully for them, Paris Hilton decided to get into acting that year, and Mike Myers' career imploded with The Love Guru, so their careers were somewhat spared.

The Story

Dr. Jack Gramm (played by Al Pacino) is a forensic psychiatrist in Seattle who teaches his trade at University of Washington when he's not consulting with the FBI. Nine years ago, his professional testimony helped put away Jon Forster (aka "the Seattle Slayer" played by Neal McDonough) for the brutal murders of several women in the Seattle area. Presently, Forster is slated for execution in the next 24 hours, but some doubts arise about the seemingly closed case when more victims suddenly start to pop up that perfectly match the Seattle Slayer's MO. With all that being said, Dr. Gramm receives an anonymous call from a mysterious voice that tells him he has 88 minutes to live. He'll have to use that time to not only survive, but also determine who's behind these new murders.

The vibe that this movie gives off is that it wants to be among the ranks of psychological thrillers like Kiss the Girls or Fracture, but it manages to screw up nearly everything it touches. The most noticeable flaw right away is that Al Pacino spends most of the movie on a cell phone giving instructions to other people while running around. It's not an exaggeration either, part of me wants to go back through the movie and actually time how much of the movie is spent with him just barking orders over the phone. Beyond that, Jon Avnet's direction of the film makes it abundantly clear that Gramm is never wrong, so the audience doesn't get much of a chance to make their own deductions as it's relatively futile.

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This is what Dr. Gramm does for arguably three quarters of the film

The dialogue is so bad it's funny, and it seems to double down on this as the plot nears the climax (I actually wrote down my favorite part in the Spoiler Comments). Nearly every female character in the film is aggressively attracted to Dr. Gramm in the film while the mystery's many red-herrings quickly get dismissed as quickly as they arrive as each is flimsier than the last. Some of the conspiracy points are also just as ludicrous, which is only enhanced when even some of the characters take the time to point out how absurd it all is (bless you, William Forsythe). By the end of the movie, I realized that Dr. Gramm is not actually the hero of this film as his only major contribution to stopping the antagonist is calling his friend, FBI Special Agent Frank Parks (William Forsythe), for help.

I lastly want to say that my favorite part of this entire movie is when Dr. Gramm pays to borrow a taxi cab from a driver who sits in the backseat while Dr. Gramm drives. This whole ordeal is hilarious as some of the deepest moments in the story happen inside the cab while this random taxi driver stares blankly at the camera in the background while Pacino monologues. I kept waiting for him to interrupt Dr. Gramm deducing who the villain was because he needed to get some snacks out of the glove compartment (sadly, this never happens). 

Special Effects/Atmosphere

The idea of providing an entire story with an arbitrary time limit is a really interesting directorial design, however it's not realistically pulled off in this film. I'd say it's fairly obvious that Dr. Gramm goes way over his time limit by the climax of the movie. If you look at just the scenes in the movie, it's probably fairly accurate, however Jon Avnet directs as though traffic in a major urban city isn't a thing. It also doesn't help that there's no indication that Dr. Gramm will actually be magically killed when the timer hits zero.

In all seriousness, I actually really enjoyed the sound design for this film, and I thought the special effects were serviceable as well. The explosions and few shootout scenes were pretty good. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for any special effects that involve vehicles. Dr. Gramm nearly gets run over on more than one occasion, but he also returns the favor to the streets of Seattle by nearly running down some random civilians in at least one scene too. 

The Acting

As you probably saw in my introduction section, I may be slightly biased towards Al Pacino, but I genuinely don't think Pacino is so bad in this film that he warrants receiving a Razzie Award nomination. I can't say the same for Leelee Sobieski (who plays Lauren Douglas), who turns in about as awful of a performance as she did in Wicker Man. The awful writing plagues this entire film's acting, so it's hard to tell where the poor dialogue ends and the bad acting begins, but one can simply assume that it's all bad.

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Pacino waking up to the sound of his career imploding

The Best of the Best: The look on that taxi driver's face as Dr. Gramm reveals his sordid past to the person in the passenger seat.

The Worst of the Worst: The atrociously awful writing that goes beyond dialogue and fully pushes through to the overall plot.

Calhooey Score: 2/10 - So Bad It's Good

Would I Recommend?

Despite how my review is written, this is allegedly a very serious thriller film. Personally, I think this movie is so bad it's good, but your mileage may vary there. At best, it's a guilty pleasure, and at worst, it's just a terrible movie. At the bare minimum, at least we can say that it's not as bad as Jack and Jill.

-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------

• Dr. Gramm apparently has an elevator that opens up directly into his apartment. I've never seen this done in apartment buildings. Is this a real thing?
• I love that Dr. Gramm (as a consultant) can just order an FBI agent to detain and search some random asshole's home based on a hunch.
• I'd love to know how Kim Cummings (played by Alicia Witt) disappeared from Sara Pollard's apartment. She seemed fairly capable, so I don't know how Lauren abducted her.
• Let's talk about the grand conspiracy to remove some of Dr. Gramm's semen from Sara Pollard's genitals so that it could be placed at the crime scene of Dale Morris' murder. I'm morbidly curious how Lauren pulled that one off.
• Speaking of conspiracies, I'll buy that Lauren seduced Dr. Gramm's assistant, but I won't buy how Lauren knew of Dr. Gramm's sister's tape recording to begin with. This was apparently a big secret that is well-guarded. I find it strange that Lauren and/or Forster knew about it and where to get it.
• *Dr. Gramm and Lauren point guns at each other*
  Lauren: "I hope that's not a gun your holding... Is that a gun, Dr. Gramm?"
  *Dr. Gramm continues to obviously point his pistol at Lauren from five feet away* 
  Dr. Gramm: "What do you want?"
  Lauren: "Is that a gun?"
  Dr. Gramm: "...I have a gun."
  ^Best dialogue in the whole film.

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------

(1) Wikipedia. (2020, November 29). 88 Minutes film cover image. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88_Minutes.

(2) HuluTrailers. (2012, August 5). Dr. Gramm on cell phone image. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM0wZ0l3ZHs.

(3) boredgifsbro. (n.d.). Pacino waking up gif. Tumblr. Retrieved from: https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/88-minutes?sort=top.