88 Minutes - Blu-ray Review

Talk about truth in advertising since the film actually runs 107 minutes. You may wish that 88 minutes was the case since the film is convoluted, poorly acted, and worst of all boring.

Al Pacino can’t breathe any life into this tired thriller. Dr. Jack Gramm (Al Pacino) is a forensic psychiatrist whose testimony put the serial killer Jon Forster (Neal McDonough) on death row.

Forster’s execution date draws near and killings in the style he used before Gramm caught him start reoccurring in Seattle. Gramm also gets a phone call on the day Forster’s execution is scheduled and is told that he has 88 minutes to live. Now Gramm has to figure out who has set him up before the murders are pinned on him and his 88 minutes are up. If 88 Minutes had only run as long as the title suggested, you might’ve had a more decent yarn. As it is the movie is rather implausible. It would probably take the allotted time till Gramm’s death to deal with the bomb threat called into the college. However, in the allotted time Gramm has enough time to run all around Seattle and get into all sorts of scrapes. It would probably take half an hour just to do all the driving.

Unless Seattle is so small that every place that Gramm has to be is right next door to each other to complete his tasks in the timeframe he’s given. The acting isn’t exactly top notch either. Poor Al really seems bored for parts of the film. Not that I wasn’t joining him towards the end when I was partly wondering how the mess would fit together in the end and also looking at my watch. Not to mention that all of Jack’s students seem to have girlish crushes on him and I have to scratch my head as to why they’d give him a second look. Guess I’m not girlish enough but I was not really too infatuated with the film either. The big revelation of the killer only gave me a yawn more than anything. 88 Minutes is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.35:1). Special features include a commentary from director John Avnet. The remainder of the special features is presented in standard definition. These include a 10-minute alternate ending, a 7-minute interview with Avnet, a 7-minute interview with Al Pacino, and previews of other Sony products. The material is weak, the logic illogical, and Al Pacino seems to be sleepwalking through it. It’s definitely not one of Pacino’s finest performances and I was a bit sleepy myself after trudging through the film. I bet the denizens of Seattle wish it was as easy to get around the city was the speedy Jack Gramm makes it look to be. Just don’t rush down to the rental store to check this one out.