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The gimmick
of the film is that from the moment the threat is made, everything
happens in real-time and the film lasts for another... 88 minutes.
The
backstory to these threats is thus: Pacino's character was involved in
the prosecution of a serial killer. Said killer is convicted, but while
he is appealing the conviction more murders occur and someone starts
threatening Pacino.
That's pretty much it.
The tacky opening titles set the tone for the entire film, which appear to have been directed by a complete and utter lunatic.
The
only explanation I have for some of the shots and choices is that it
was filmed by a Year 12 Media class - after all, the signature
technique of the films seems to be the "crash" zoom. The crash zoom!
Isn't this is supposed to be a tense thriller?
But I digress.
The
beginning of the film follows the murder of a young woman. She is a
twin living with her sister, and the killer creeps into their apartment
and hangs them both upside down and cuts them up and such.
I
don't know what they had on their ceiling that could hold the weight of
one person (even a hefty chandelier probably couldn't handle that much)
let alone two but hey, forget about logic. Let's just all assume
murderers have amazing skill when it comes to creating some kind of
Pulley System.
Oh, and did I mention the twins are named Janey and Joany? No? Well, there you go - it's like Sweet Valley High all over again. But with more blood...
We
are then taken to a courtroom scene featuring a ridiculous defense
attorney. Seriously, ridiculous. She cross-examines Al Pacino and... oh
dear God, the crash zooms. They just don't stop.
The rest of
the film is laughable. It features cookies and milk in a police
briefing, flashbacks that are presented with scratches and film
artefacts (even though they are just memories inside the protagonists
head), a psychology class that seems to be made up of the cast of The O.C.
and a declaration that Al Pacino will stop the threats he's been
receiving "Once and for all"... even though he's only been receiving
them for 9 minutes of the proposed 88 minutes.
The Al Pacino of Dog Day Afternoon and Serpico might still
exist, but the films he has been choosing are a giant leap down from
his golden years.
It's difficult to comprehend how incapable someone would have to be in order to spew forth the absolute dreck that is 88 Minutes.
... But hey, at least he wasn't in Meet The Fockers.
DVD EXTRAS There's simply no way that I can recommend this film or
it's DVD release, with no special features whatsoever on the version I
reviewed. Is anyone getting the feeling there was a good reason that the flicked was denied a cinema release? Conclusion:
Movie 10% Extras: N/A
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