88 Minutes (Tri Star Pictures)
Beat the Clock
Al Pacino star in the tense thriller 88 Minutes. It is a story about a man who has been told he will die in eighty-eight minutes and he is racing the clock all the way through the film. Pacino all but chews up the scenery with his acting techniques but the movie entertains with its mysterious plot.
Jack Gramm (Pacino) is a forensic psychiatrist who testifies in criminal cases. His testimony is what clinches the guilty verdict for Jon Forster (Neal McDonough), a man accused of a ghastly murder. On the day Forster is to be executed Gramm receives a call on his cell phone telling him he has eighty eight minutes to live.
As Gramm races throughout the city of Seattle he tries to uncover who wants him dead. Forster is at the top of his list but he is in prison on death row. Then other murders start happening which mirror the murder for which Forster was convicted. Did Gramm help send an innocent man to death row
A lot of Gramms students seem to be involved in his life. There is his student assistant, Kim Cummings (Alicia Witt). She seems to be awfully attracted to the professor. Then there are Lauren Douglas (Leelee Sobieski) and Mike Stempt (Benjamin McKenzie). They seem to pop up at the most inopportune times during Gramms day.
Gramm also seems to have had a physical relationship with the head of his department, Carol Johnson (Deborah Kara Unger). Does she have a reason to want revenge And what about his assistant, Shelly (Amy Brenneman) Is she as loyal as she seems
As the clock ticks down to the point of death Gramm becomes more and more desperate to find the identity of the killer and his/her motive for wanting him dead. For the movie to reach the revealing ending a lot of questions have to be answered. Most of them are.
Pacino is frenetic from start to finish in this movie. He is racing here, racing there, and always with that cell phone ringing and ringing and ringing. But whoever provides his service, I want that company. Gramm gets reception everywhere and his battery never grows weak either.
The movie is rated R for profanity, violence and brief nudity.
There are some holes in the plot of this movie. Not everything is totally logical and not all the plot questions are answered. Still there are enough to make the story believable and suspenseful. Pacino and company provide a movie that entertains and that is one of the primary goals of moviemakers.
I scored 88 Minutes a ticking 6 out of 10.
