88 Minutes (2007)

Tic-Tock Doc, What's The Problem?

Another forensic scientist with impressive expertise over human behaviour, but things are a lot more grim this time around. While Shoot 'Em Up was a whole new dimension between a third-person shooter and a B-movie, 88 Minutes would've definitely worked better as a video game, where ordinary ideas and not-so-gripping plots are more excusable. If I was the man holding that gun and answering those phones, be it through a keyboard, mouse and a monitor, I wouldn't complain about the fact that too much was happening at once all the time and that the story, structurally, was a mess. However, 88 Minutes is a film and since I am deprived of the joy of doing all the smartass things that Dr. Jack Gramm is doing in the most action-packed 88 minutes of his life, I have to bitch about the utterly unsatisfying climax and ask questions like "Who the hell is Mike Stern and to what purpose did this character serve in this story?"

Jon Avnet clearly wants to be Michael Mann with his second latest film but sometimes, the casting of Al Pacino is simply not enough. This whole film is one huge build-up where everything happens real time and the eventual conclusion (or a conscious lack thereof) is everything. The only way one could forgive all the plot holes, overloaded story and the unrefined suspense was a satisfactory climax that would've made us forget everything before itself. I gave The Usual Suspects ten stars out of ten yet I still wonder how much the film as a whole deserves that rating and how much of it is due to the everlasting and awe-inspiring effect that its finale had on me. A similar one here would've made Avnet's film much more worthy.

I wondered, after seeing the credits roll, whether or not the conclusion to this tiresome 88 minutes could've been any cheaper? What does Al Pacino do, ultimately; other than saving himself and the red head from a blown car and a couple of bullets? Why is he our hero? He goes with the flow all the time; he's tricked, he's manipulated yet he shows no signs of shrewdness that you would expect from a man with a wealth and fame in forensic science like his. Eventually he shows up at the designated location, does everything the villain asks him to do and waits for an FBI agent to shoot her down. And he gets to give a hero monologue at the end. I don't understand.

88 Minutes couldn't have been a masterpiece, that's for sure, but there was definitely room for improvement.

5/10


Cihan Says:

Another thing we've been seeing too much of lately are these genius forensic scientists. There are numerous series concerning them now, and the films keep coming. 88 Minutes combine the issue with a premise from another series, and I don't think this is exactly a coincidence.

Sadly, it is not a pleasant coincidence. The film does not use 24's visual tools, which in my opinion are not that interesting themselves, and hence the real time situation does not really create a feeling of urgency. All in all the whole thing ends up depending on Pacino's performance.

Which brings us to the thing that nags me the most: Despite being one of my favorite actors, Pacino lately seems to be in a rut. Since Insider -barring Merchant of Venice- he has been cast as more or less the same character over and over again; and whereas in Insomnia it was excellent, it was boring everywhere else. Pacino needs to be free to add as much depth and diversity as he can to a character, he should enjoy no less freedom than he did in Heat, to shine. A one-dimensional character is not his cup of coffee, and he himself seems to be getting bored doing what he is doing lately.

There is not much more to discuss, the film did not even focus on the peripheral characters, or even the plot itself to give them impact. It seems 88 minutes was not enough.

3/10