88 Minutes (2007)

On the day that a serial killer that he helped put away is supposed to be executed, a noted forensic psychologist and college professor receives a call informing him that he has 88 minutes left to live.

Director:

Jon Avnet

Writer:

Gary Scott Thompson

Stars:

Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

In Seattle, the successful forensic psychiatrist and college professor Jack Gramm is in evidence since he was responsible for the condemnation of the serial killer Jon Forster, influencing the jury to sentence him to the death row. Jon accuses Jack of manipulation, inducing one witness and sister of one of his victims to testify against him. On the eve of Jon's execution, Jack receives a phone call telling him that he has only eighty-eight minutes of life, while a killer is copycatting Jon, killing women with the same "modus-operandi" and is investigated by Seattle Slayer Task Force. With the support of associate Shelly Barnes, an FBI agent, his friend Frank Parks, and his assistant Kim Cummings, Jack investigates some weird and problematic students, a security guard of the campus and the woman with whom he had one night stand.

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Plot Keywords:

professor | forensics | death | college | fbi | 

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Taglines:

Time is running out.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content, brief nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Films [fr] Sony Pictures [us]

Country:

USA Germany Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

88

Filming Locations:

Koerner Plaza, University of British Columbia, Robson Square Campus - 800 Robson Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$6,957,216 (USA) (18 April 2008)

Gross:

$16,930,884 (USA) (16 May 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millennium Films, Randall Emmett / George Furla Productions, Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & Co. KG III

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS (uncredited) SDDS (uncredited)

Color:

Color (FotoKem)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie trailer of the film reveals parts of scenes that failed to reach the final cut, most obvious of which were flashbacks of the trial convicting Jon Foster.

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Goofs

At least one shot shows a green "Metro" box. Metro is a free newspaper distributed in 7 major Canadian cities, including Vancouver, where the film was shot. In the US, Metro is distributed in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, not Seattle, where the film is set.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in Eagle Eye (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)"
Written by Max Martin (ASCAP), Herbie Crichlow (as Herbert St. Clair Crichlow) (ASCAP)
Performed by Backstreet Boys
Published by Zomba Enterprises Inc. (ASCAP) / WB Music Corp. (ASCAP) obo Megasong Publishing
Courtesy of Jive Records
By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Licensing

User Reviews

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.