We can guess why Amy Brenneman, William Forsythe and Leelee Sobieski signed up for “88 Minutes” – so they can tell their grandkids they once worked alongside the great Al Pacino.
But what’s Pacino doing in this unholy mess.
“88 Minutes,” now out on DVD, announces just how awful it is in the opening minutes. Unnecessary quick zooms, clunky acting and gratuitous violence are the first in a series of red flags that doesn’t stop flying until the credits mercifully roll.
Pacino plays Dr. Jack Gramm, a forensic psychologist who helped put away a serial killer named Jon Forster (Neal McDonough) nearly a decade ago. Forster is about to fry in the electric chair, but a string of murders reminiscent of Forster’s M.O. gives local law officials pause about his guilt.
Meanwhile, Gramm gets a cell phone call from the “Saw” puppet saying he has only 88 minutes to live. Is Forster setting him up via surrogates as revenge for putting him away? Or is someone in Gramm’s inner circle fed up with his arrogant methods? Not a bad set-up, right? So why does absolutely nothing else in the film make sense?
Detailing all the cinematic offenses in “88 Minutes” would take a separate blog, but Alicia Witt deserves a special shout out for one of the worst performances in recent history. Bravo, Alicia! You stood out in this year’s “Gigli.”
As for Pacino, he’s risen to the Donald Trump level of fame where no one near him has the nerve to say, ‘psst, Al, your hair looks silly.’ Pacino is in his mid-60s, and he’s still got every follicle from his “Godfather” days. But a new stylist is clearly in order. Seriously. You need a widescreen format just to keep every dyed lock in the frame.
“Hoo-ah!”
(Photo: Al Pacino’s screen legend takes a big hit with the awful 2008 feature “88 Minutes.”)
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
This year’s “Gigli”, huh? Sadly enough, Pacino also (briefly) appeared in that one…
I had forgotten Pacino was in “Gigli.” It’s only a cameo, but I recall him nibbling on some of the scenery. A light snack, if you will.
I couldn’t believe all the bizarre cuts and slow-mo shots. The film didn’t have a story anywhere near good enough to accomodate visual tomfoolery.
The director isn’t a kid … he should know better. But perhaps he realized that his awful movie needed some distractions.
Actually, Leelee “whiskey voice” Sobieski was even worse IMHO, esp. toward the end, when the film completely went off the rails; special non-credit must also be given to mis-director Jon Avnet, though he’s still only the third-worst helmer of two 2008 relases, behind Uwe Boll and Friedberg/Seltzer…
To be mentioned with Uwe Boll … that’s the worst thing any director can hear, Ken.
But he deserves it for all the reasons you mentioned.