88 Minutes - DVD Review

Imagine as you are going about your daily business, you get a cell phone call and the disguised voice on the line says that you will die in 88 minutes. What do you do?

Al Pacino as Dr. Jack Gramm, forensic psychologist and professor begins a search of both memory and environment to see if he can beat the clock and find the killer before he has a chance to strike.

In story this seemed like a great set up for a thriller, with the probability of many tense moments and a display of clever sleuthing to deduct the villain amongst the clues. Well 88 Minutes was not that movie. From a beginning that dwelt far too long on the horrific methods of the serial killer, and then gave the briefest glimpse of a trial, the action jumped ahead nine years to the eve of the killer’s execution. This is when Dr. Gramm receives his call. At this point, the viewer doesn’t know who Gramm is, we know what he does, but not anything about the person. It may have been the actor’s intent to play the character as mysterious and caught up in his own thoughts. However he comes across as befuddled or at best not caring very much about anything. The audience needs some kind of revelation as to what Gramm thinks to understand why he does what he does. It is as if you are waiting for him to suddenly wake up and start gathering evidence, making connections, putting the pieces together.If the audience knows little about Dr. Gramm, then we are given NOTHING about the students he teaches. Suddenly as he receives the call, they are important, and there are flashes to the faces, but we get nothing.

Leelee Sobieski while beautiful and a good actress, is just not the right choice for her character. She looks like she wandered into the wrong class as she was coming from a pep rally. Then there is the guy who is supposed to be a brilliant medical student and is more like an automaton, he can be slightly surly. Alicia Witt is the only believable student character. She looks right, and for some reason the writers allowed her to tell her backstory thus giving her dimension and making the viewer care about her. It would have been interesting to have the same treatment for the other students, as well as Dr. Gramm. You want to know why these students are in his class, what they think of him, of the profession and the challenges. Less bloody scenes, more story and what the characters were thinking would have helped tremendously.88 Minutes is presented on single disc in widescreen format with a running time of over 107 minutes. Special features on the disc include an alternate ending, a film commentary with Director Jon Avnet, the Director’s Point of View on making of 88 Minutes and working with Al Pacino, and The Character Within, where Al Pacino talks about the way he creates the character. These were all interesting, and after watching them, the viewer will have a better idea of the intent of the cast and crew. However, it is a shame that you have to watch the analysis before you can appreciate the story. It would be better if the story could stand alone.