88 Minutes

This week mom and I went to see 88 Minutes. This suspense thriller starring Al Pacino as a police psychologist/teacher, is a fast paced, entertaining little film, which keeps you gripped all the way to the end.

September 1, 1997. Most of the world is talking about the death of Princess Diana. In rainy Seattle, twin sisters Janie and Joanie Cates are getting ready for bed. Before the morning comes, one of the them will have been brutally murdered, the other tortured. A man is arrested and, with the help of testimony from Forensic Psychiatrist Jack Graham (Al Pacino), is sentenced to die, a sentence that takes nine years before it can be carried out. The killer (Neil McDonough) has always maintained his innocence, claiming that Graham lied and persuaded the jury to convict him. In fact, in of the many plot twists, it appears that the Seattle Slayer (the nickname given the cause of these brutal murders) is still killing nine years later, on the day the alleged killer is due to die. Are these copycat crimes or might Forster, as he convincingly maintains, be innocent?



Forster wins a stay and is about to be released. Then, ominously, Gramm receives mysterious phone messages, punctuated by the words “Tick-tock, Doc,” warning that he has only 88 minutes to live. The story unfolds at breakneck speed as Gramm tears through one frantic morning trying to maintain his routine schedule as he struggles to get answers and dodge the ever-increasing threats.



“88 Minutes” is a fine showcase for the talent that IS Al Pacino.