88 Minutes (2007)

On the day that a serial killer that he helped put away is supposed to be executed, a noted forensic psychologist and college professor receives a call informing him that he has 88 minutes left to live.

Director:

Jon Avnet

Writer:

Gary Scott Thompson

Stars:

Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Al Pacino	...	Jack Gramm
Alicia Witt	...	Kim Cummings
Leelee Sobieski	...	Lauren Douglas
Amy Brenneman	...	Shelly Barnes
William Forsythe	...	Frank Parks
Deborah Kara Unger	...	Carol Lynn Johnson
Ben McKenzie	...	Mike Stempt (as Benjamin McKenzie)
Neal McDonough	...	Jon Forster
Leah Cairns	...	Sara Pollard
Stephen Moyer	...	Guy LaForge
Christopher Redman	...	Jeremy Guber
Brendan Fletcher	...	Johnny D'Franco
Michael Eklund	...	J.T. Rycker
Kristina Copeland	...	Dale Morris
Tammy Hui	...	Janie Cates

Storyline

In Seattle, the successful forensic psychiatrist and college professor Jack Gramm is in evidence since he was responsible for the condemnation of the serial killer Jon Forster, influencing the jury to sentence him to the death row. Jon accuses Jack of manipulation, inducing one witness and sister of one of his victims to testify against him. On the eve of Jon's execution, Jack receives a phone call telling him that he has only eighty-eight minutes of life, while a killer is copycatting Jon, killing women with the same "modus-operandi" and is investigated by Seattle Slayer Task Force. With the support of associate Shelly Barnes, an FBI agent, his friend Frank Parks, and his assistant Kim Cummings, Jack investigates some weird and problematic students, a security guard of the campus and the woman with whom he had one night stand.

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Plot Keywords:

professor | forensics | death | college | fbi | 

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Taglines:

He has 88 minutes to solve a murder. His own.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content, brief nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Films [fr] Sony Pictures [us]

Country:

USA Germany Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

88

Filming Locations:

Koerner Plaza, University of British Columbia, Robson Square Campus - 800 Robson Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$6,957,216 (USA) (18 April 2008)

Gross:

$16,930,884 (USA) (16 May 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millennium Films, Randall Emmett / George Furla Productions, Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & Co. KG III

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS (uncredited) SDDS (uncredited)

Color:

Color (FotoKem)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film runs in "real time" meaning that at the moment Jack Gramm is first told he has only 88 minutes to live, the remaining running time of the motion picture until the identity of the person who set Gramm up is exactly 88 minutes.

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Goofs

During the live interview with Forster, the time jumps from 11:09 PT to 11:06 PT.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Kate: Look at me. Look at the kite.

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Connections

Spoofed in Saturday Night Live: Michael Phelps/Lil' Wayne (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)"
Written by Max Martin (ASCAP), Herbie Crichlow (as Herbert St. Clair Crichlow) (ASCAP)
Performed by Backstreet Boys
Published by Zomba Enterprises Inc. (ASCAP) / WB Music Corp. (ASCAP) obo Megasong Publishing
Courtesy of Jive Records
By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Licensing

User Reviews

Pacino delivers again

I've read some comments from people who couldn't understand this movie. That's predictable from the 'video game generation' of movie viewers whose idea of a deep plot is a high body count from automatic weapons. LOL

If you're a true fan of the mystery thriller, however, this movie delivers in spades. I had at least four theories of what was really going on during the course of this movie, and while one of them was on a parallel track to the real root of the action, I didn't quite get it right. That's unusual. I've watched enough mysteries and enough thrillers over the last few decades that I almost ALWAYS have it figured out well before the end. Here, I didn't. I was completely torn between wondering if Pacino's character was being threatened or manipulated by the bad guy(s), or if he himself was the bad guy and those around him were working to make him slip up and reveal himself.

Don't put too much credence in the opinion of the bubble head crowd. If you have a brain in your head, you'll enjoy this movie.