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Blog by Don Kennedy

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88 minutes

88 Minutes actually runs for 108 minutes and the believability goes downhill from there. Al Pacino stars as Dr Jack Gramm a forensic psychiatrist with the FBI who also teaches at the University of Washington (played by UBC). He lives a lavish lifestyle that appears beyond that of any cop or college professor for that matter and even though acting only as an advisor for the Bureau seems to have carte blanche powers for search and seizure. His star testimony has put away Jon Foster a heinous but charming serial killer played by perpetual cutie pie bad guy Neal McDonough who seems to have unrestricted media access although on death row. Hours before his execution Dr Gramm gets a call from someone with access to psychologically chilling information saying that he has 88 minutes to live and continues the countdown at various intervals. The stress is compounded by a stay of execution for Foster while a copycat serial killer continues his work and Gramm is suddenly under criminal investigation for perjured testimony. More pressure builds as it seems like his entire class is part of a conspiracy to free Foster. 88 Minutes features Supporting actors Alicia Witt and Amy Brenneman who are pretty good but the usually rock solid Leelee Sobieski stumbles. Meantime Pacino does his best with dialogue and hair that not even he can pull off.

 

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