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180 comments in total

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226 out of 361 people found the following comment useful :-
There is a good reason why they don't want to release it, 23 January 2007
Author: lukas8 from United States

This is such a poor movie, it is unbelievable. Especially considering it has such a solid actor like Al Pacino. Fans of his will wish they never saw it.

Al plays the role of a psychologist consultant for the police who is also a teacher of forensic psychology. The movie starts the day a serial killer who was convicted based on his testimony is about to executed. But it is a bad day for Al's character because there is new evidence that suggests he helped convict the wrong man. Oh, not only that, but he receives an anonymous phone call telling him he has 88 minutes to live.

Al Pacino plays a hardcore guy in most of his films, that is usually what makes them great. It seems like they tried to do the same thing with this movie and accomplished the opposite. His character is surrounded by bimbo 20-year-olds throwing themselves at him and guys with leather jackets for him to beat up. But it just ends up feeling like a desperate attempt to prove he "still has it." The only thing floating this movie is a gimmick for a plot (the whole 88 minutes to live thing) which sort of ends of being a subplot anyway. Al Pacino fans are going to hate me for saying all this until they see it for themselves.

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155 out of 232 people found the following comment useful :-
88 Minutes of Subpar Thriller Fare, 26 January 2007
Author: ofourhue-1 from United States

I will not discuss any of the plot point of the film, as I do not wish to spoil any "surprises", but I will say that it's a sad state of affairs that a movie of this caliber is considered even nearly good. The characters are one dimensional, the plot trodding on all-too-familiar themes, and the acting is abysmal. Al Pacino, who used to be a fine actor, sleep walks his way through this movie and delivers the exact same performance as he did in "Two For The Money", "Insomnia", "People I Know" and "Simone" (I will admit I liked him in "Merchant of Venice"). This movie is not superb...it's not even good. Al, this is a wake up call to please return to the realm of acting instead of collecting the first paycheck that comes your way.

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47 out of 61 people found the following comment useful :-
Worst of Pacino's Career, 19 April 2008

Author: C-Younkin from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Al Pacino is one of those few actors whose career is so decorated and quality that you literally would see the biggest piece of crap in the world just to see what he would do in it. Over the years I've watched boring (Simone), long and preachy (Angels in America), and just bad (Oceans Thirteen, Two For the Money) movies primarily because he's the Godfather, Lt. Frank Slade, Serpico, and Scarface to me and he always will be. He embodies greatness and respectability, even in crap, and so I keep going back. 88 Minutes is not crap though, it's less than crap. It's amateur night at the script-o-rama.

Pacino plays Dr. Jack Gramm, a college professor who also works with the FBI as a forensic psychiatrist. When he receives a phone call telling him he only has 88 minutes to live, he must use his powers of analysis to save his own life. One possible suspect is Jon Forster (Neal McDonough), a serial killer who feels Jack manipulated the jury into sending him to death row. In addition, he also includes a woman he had a one-night stand with and a disgruntled student he slighted into his investigation.

The script by Garry Scott Thompson is embarrassingly, abysmally awful. It's so startlingly, unconscionably bad that after the first couple scenes, I was fascinated with the depths it was willing to sink too. Start with the tasteless opening scene. A woman is hung by her legs while a man cuts and rapes her. It's an appalling and uncomfortable thing to watch and above all it's not even necessary to show it. Moving on, the Pacino character meets with the D.A investigating the Jon Forster case in the next scene. It should be intense but the introduction of milk and cookies kills the momentum almost immediately.

The movie is a mess with background characters, all of which are underdeveloped and made to look like suspects. I understand the concept of adding red-herrings but when everyone from Jack's students to the campus security guard seem to be hiding something, it just gets absurd. And why does the killer try to kill Jack by blowing up his car and shooting at him before the 88 minutes are up? And why does Jack, a Forensic Psychologist, seem so skilled in handling a gun and acting like a cop? And what exactly is the killer trying to do here, frame Jack for murder by planting evidence or actually kill him? And why does Jack's teaching assistant (Alicia Witt) feel the need to bring up wanting a relationship with him right in the middle of them running for their lives? And why do we constantly need to be reminded of the death of Jack's sister by constantly flashing back to a little girl running on a beach. And of all the names you could have picked, why on Earth would you name a character Guy LaForge. This screenplay is just inconsistent and nothing is credible, even the initial threat is laughable in its execution And if you think you've already reached your ridiculous quota, just wait for the ending. It's an out-of-the-park homerun as far as retarded goes.

I was going to review the acting but since this is running longer than I expected, I just want to say that Pacino sleeps through the role and gets his paycheck and Leelee Sobieski is one of the cheesiest and phoniest people I've ever seen act. She should be acting in "Ogre 2" on the sci-fi channel, not anywhere near Al Pacino. "88 Minutes" is a movie of stunning badness. I found it hard to even keep track of all the ridiculous things that happen in it. It's still early but I would be surprised if I saw a worse movie this year.

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37 out of 51 people found the following comment useful :-
Watchable only because it is mesmerizingly bad..., 30 May 2007

Author: cinegal-2 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Hard to believe an actor of Pacino's stature could end up starring in this mess! The "plot" barely makes sense, and the roster of suspects makes it obvious right off the bat who the "mystery psycho" will turn out to be. Pacino is a Professor of "Forensic Psychiatry" (a specialty of dubious believability at best) who apparently works at a University with only one finished building where every student takes his class, and they all park in the same garage. Set in rainy Seattle, the biggest mystery here is why it is pouring on Pacino's speeding taxi, but once it rounds a corner an exterior shot shows a sunny day complete with pedestrians apparently staring and pointing at the film crew. Another head scratcher involves Pacino's ever changing hair length, style, and color all during an 88 minute period--guess he made a few stops at Supercuts in the midst of solving his own murder.

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29 out of 37 people found the following comment useful :-
My my, how bad this movie is..., 17 January 2008

Author: jeanbal from France

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Al Pacino has been a great actor. Maybe the best of his generation, but when was it? Watching 88 Minutes I kept wondering why he was unable to close his mouth. Well, he seems to have problems to use his jaw muscles to just "close his mouth". And when he tries to run or jump stairs, what we see is just an old man limping badly. Worst of all, he is no more able to act with any credibility. He tries to look young and full of life, but really looks like an rippled alcoholic. But the worst is, of course, the movie itself. Inane plot ("You'll die in 88 minutes but I will try to kill you before..."), bad cinematography (have you noticed how many phone calls there is in this movie? 30? 40?), filming clichés (everytime there is a car trip, the car is filmed from above. How original!). And Pacino is surrounded by very pretty (and young) girls who are in love with him. How pathetic. If you really like the "real" Al Pacino, don't even think to watch this film. You might be pushed to think that extraterrestrials have replaced him with a bad copy.

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24 out of 35 people found the following comment useful :-
In top 10 worst movies ever seen, 3 August 2007

Author: Blossomsinthenight

This movie was so awful that I watched up to halfway through waiting for it to "start" - for the plot, characters, and overall tone to start making sense - before realizing it was never gonna happen. As another viewer commented, Al Pacino seems like an old smarmy geyser perpetually supporting fawning pseudo-model 20-something girls who gaze into his wise, knowledgeable eyes. It's pathetic. The plot is completely inconsequential and the ending is formulaic and bland. The visuals are very blue, grey, depressing and support the overall unpleasant viewing experience. Don't waste your time watching this, no matter how big a Pacino fan you are. I don't know why he did this movie, but it's definitely not worth your time no matter how bored you are!!!

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40 out of 71 people found the following comment useful :-
Good but mostly only because of Al Pacino, 10 April 2007

Author: AudioFileZ from United States

This movie uses time to create some urgency and a fairly fast pace to keep interest. These devices are used effectively so that combined with Al Pacino and a decent script we have an interesting thriller.

The story is a bit extreme, but the pace really did help me not to question that (too much) in the final analysis. The character played by Al Pacino is unsympathetic even though he harbors a terrible past that haunts him. That changes as everything falls apart around him in just over an hour. His struggle to find a killer that he believes will kill him, as well as others, overshadows his obnoxious ego. Has he met his match? Does he have some moral issues that either way are going to be his downfall? It makes for a pretty interesting plot.

This isn't the best psychological thriller...but, it's respectable enough to warrant a solid 6 and that is due to Al Pacino largely.

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85 out of 161 people found the following comment useful :-
Acceptable thriller thanks to Pacino, 9 February 2007

Author: razvan_cendo from Romania

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The problem with this movie is that it is made in a stereotype way.Iy is not a bad film,but the screenplay and action don't have something new. The possible killers are from a pretty big number of people and during the movie the director was able to make you suspect almost everyone.This is what I liked about it.And of course my favourite actor,Al Pacino,didn't disappoint me with his acting.Too bad he was the only one who impressed me.Of course he has the only leading role,the others have shorter appearances. Anyway,you don't find out who is the killer until the last part of the film,just like many other thrillers.Nevertheless,if you enjoy these types of movies you should watch it.You will spend your time in pretty good way.

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23 out of 38 people found the following comment useful :-
I haven't seen anything quite this bad in a long time!, 14 January 2008

Author: Fredolow from Malaysia

Awful awful AWFUL - this film really was a stinker, and I'm quite astonished at the number of good comments it's receiving on here. What on Earth Al Pacino was thinking of getting involved in something this dire is quite beyond me - perhaps money, but damage to reputation alone I would have thought to be adequate reason to steer well away. The script was strewn with clichés which managed to bring out the worst in everyone. The actress who played his sidekick for the 3rd quarter of the film looked completely lost, struggling vainly to add some meaning to her lines, with the long, poorly composed two-shots only prolonging the agony. Character development was thin at best and the fast-paced attempt at storytelling only led to one farce after another, making the whole thing completely laughable.

My advice - avoid at all costs. Whoever put money into this turkey deserves to lose it.

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11 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Good for a thriller, not as bad as people are saying, 3 June 2008

Author: manubezamat from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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.

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