MOVIE REVIEW: 88 MINUTES

Four of Seven Cows

There are a couple Hollywood clichés that need to be retired immediately for the good of all that is holy. One is the tiresome serial-killer-taunts-cops storyline that Hollywood has been inundating us with since the great Silence of the Lambs hit paydirt in 1991. Another is Al Pacino as a world-weary cop who’s seen too much, suffered too much, and been on film too much. Both of these thematic clichés are on display in Pacino’s new movie, 88 Minutes.

Al Pacino looks like an old boot with a bad haircut. That the man has not aged well is really only relevant because in this movie beautiful college girls can’t seem to keep their clothes on in his presence. More oddly yet, this is the most plausible part of the script.

In 88 Minutes Pacino plays Dr. Jack Gramm, a forensic psychiatrist/college professor (I know, not technically a cop…) whose testimony condemned a serial killer to death. On the eve of the execution Gramm gets a phone call informing him that he only has 88 minutes to live. It’s clear the threat is linked to the doomed killer, and that he has an accomplice on the outside. It’s not long before the viewer starts hoping the accomplice is an over-achiever and can do the job in half the time.

As serial killer Jon Forster, Neal McDonough tries too hard to be creepy. He’s no Anthony Hopkins, and his character is no Hannibal Lecter. Instead of scary, he’s cartoonish, as is his eventual accomplice. The rest of the cast, including Alicia Witt, LeeLee Sobieski and William Forsythe is potentially excellent, though the movie’s silly script, clichéd shock scenes, and sometimes bizarre dialogue keep that potential from being realized. The dialogue in the courtroom scene at the beginning of the film nears parody and is nearly enough to send you racing for the exits, though, blessedly, that’s about as bad as it gets.

Hollywood continues to churn out these films because they keep making money. Any critique is by nature subjective, and, indeed, I heard more than one viewer commenting on how good 88 Minutes was as they exited the theater. For that reason I give 88 Minutes four of seven cows, instead of the three I would otherwise. For me, though, 88 Minutes was about 87 minutes too long.