88 Minutes
Encyclopedia
88 Minutes is a 2007 American thriller film directed by Jon Avnet
starring Al Pacino
, Benjamin McKenzie
, Alicia Witt
, Leelee Sobieski
, Deborah Kara Unger
, Amy Brenneman
, and Neal McDonough
. Filming began in the Vancouver
area on October 8, 2005 and wrapped in December 2005. In 2007 the film was released in various European countries.
In May 2007, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group
paid $6 million to acquire North American and select international distribution rights of 88 Minutes. The group released this film in the United States theatrically on April 18, 2008 through TriStar Pictures
.
Dr. Jack Gramm (Al Pacino
) testifies at the trial of suspected serial murderer Jon Forster (Neal McDonough
), dubbed "The Seattle Slayer" by police. Gramm's testimony and expert psychiatric opinion
is crucial to help convict Forster of the murder of Joanie Coates, who was drugged with halothane
, hung upside down with latches
, and raped and tortured after the killer broke into her home. After receiving his conviction by the jury, Forster taunts Gramm, saying "Tick- tock, Doc."
Nine years later, as Forster's execution date approaches, several similar torture murder
s with very similar modi operandi
occur. Gramm is questioned by a lawyer from the Attorney General's office as well as FBI Special Agent Frank Parks (William Forsythe
) about his connection to the latest victim, Dale Morris, a former psychology student of Gramm's whom he was at a party with the night before, just hours before her death. On the way to his class, Gramm receives a phone call from someone using software to distort their voice, threatening he has 88 minutes to live. He later reports the call to his secretary Shelly (Amy Brenneman
) and has her put together a risk assessment profile of potential perpetrators.
Gramm receives another threatening phone call while teaching and becomes suspicious of his students, particularly Mike Stempt (Benjamin McKenzie
). The Dean of students, Carol Johnson (Deborah Kara Unger
), interrupts the class to evacuate the building due to a bomb threat called in. As he evacuates the lecture hall, Gramm finds a written threat on the overhead projector in the classroom as well as on his car, which has been vandalized in the parking garage. Gramm then is met by his teaching assistant Kim Cummings (Alicia Witt
) who offers to help him find the person that's been targeting him. In the stairwell of the parking garage, Gramm comes upon one of his students, Lauren Douglas (Leelee Sobieski
), attacked by an unknown assailant and reports the assault to Campus Security.
Gramm and Kim go to his condo where a package has been delivered. Lauren Douglas drops by with the risk assessment of people who may want to kill him that he requested Shelly to fax to his home. The package contains an old audio tape of his kid-sister, Katie, begging for her life and her subsequent murder. Gramm later explains she was killed several years ago when he left her alone in his apartment while he attended an important meeting; the crime took exactly 88 minutes. As Gramm determines someone had accessed his secure files to obtain the audio tape, suddenly Kim's ex-husband, Guy LaForge (Stephen Moyer
), shows up with a gun but is shot and killed from behind by an unknown person wearing a motorcycle helmet and leather protective gear. The shooter flees through the crowd outside after a fire alarm is triggered in the building.
Next, Gramm and Kim visit Sara Pollard (Leah Cairns
), the woman Gramm was with the night before, but find her murdered in her apartment with evidence incriminating Gramm. Carol calls Gramm and makes comments alluding that she is the killer and demands Gramm meet her at his office. Shelly arrives at Sara's apartment and advises Gramm she suspects Lauren was the one who stole the audio tape of Gramm's sister's death. Kim disappears from the apartment and later calls Gramm with a threat similar to Carol's, also demanding he meet her at the office.
Through prison visitation records, Gramm deduces that Forster's appeals attorney, "Lydia Doherty" is actually Lauren using a pseudonym, and surmises she set up the frame on orders from Forster from jail. Kim calls again instructing Gramm come to another nearby location on campus where he finds Carol has been hung over a seventh floor balcony and Kim is tied up and gagged, held at gun point by Lauren. Lauren threatens Gramm and forces him to "confess" on tape that he gave false testimony at Forster's trial. Special Agent Parks arrives and shoots Lauren, causing both Carol and Lauren to fall from the balcony. Gramm saves Carol, but Lauren comes loose and plummets to her death. When Forster calls asking to speak with Lauren, Gramm informs him Lauren is dead, the set up is over. He then quips "tick tok, tick tok, You got 12 hours to live"
replaced James Foley
as director. Shero Rauf
was the digital effects artist for the film.
(UBC) near Vancouver, which stood in for a fictional Northwest Washington University. It attracted much attention on campus (mainly due to Pacino's presence in the film) and filming was interrupted repeatedly because of it. This also could have been because many integral scenes were filmed in the busiest areas of campus during peak class hours. It was common for students to exit buildings after class only to walk into a shooting location.
The Canadian location is much in evidence when Pacino enters a cab early in the film, with a Shoppers Drug Mart
store and a Canada Post
mailbox in the background. The cab passes a "licenced" establishment. In the middle of the movie there's a scene with a Roots Canada store in the background.
reported that 5% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 120 reviews. On Metacritic
, the film has an average score of 17 out of 100, based on 27 reviews. The film was nominated for two Razzie Awards, Worst Actor for Al Pacino
and Worst Supporting Actress for Leelee Sobieski
.
Jon Avnet
Jonathan Michael "Jon" Avnet is an American director, writer and producer.-Early life:Avnet was born in Brooklyn, the son of Joan Bertha and Lester Francis Avnet, a corporate executive and electronics distributor. He attended Great Neck North High School in Great Neck, New York...
starring Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
, Benjamin McKenzie
Benjamin McKenzie
Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan , better known as Benjamin McKenzie, is an American actor and producer. He is best known for playing Ryan Atwood in the television series The O.C. and for playing Ben Sherman in Southland. He appeared in the films Junebug and 88 Minutes which earned him a Sarasota Film...
, Alicia Witt
Alicia Witt
Alicia Roanne Witt is an American film, stage, television actress and singer.-Early life:Witt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her mother, Diane , is a junior high school reading teacher, and her father, Robert Witt, is a science teacher and photographer. She has a brother, Ian...
, Leelee Sobieski
Leelee Sobieski
Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski , known professionally as Leelee Sobieski, is an American actress. Sobieski achieved recognition in her mid-teens for her performance in the 1998 film Deep Impact...
, Deborah Kara Unger
Deborah Kara Unger
Deborah Kara Unger is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films Crash , The Game , The Hurricane , White Noise , Silent Hill and 88 Minutes...
, Amy Brenneman
Amy Brenneman
Amy Frederica Brenneman is an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles in the television series NYPD Blue, Judging Amy and Private Practice...
, and Neal McDonough
Neal McDonough
Neal P. McDonough is an American film, television and voice actor.-Career:In 1991, McDonough won the Best Actor Dramalogue for "Away Alone". McDonough has made many television and film appearances since then, including Band of Brothers, Boomtown, Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report and The...
. Filming began in the Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
area on October 8, 2005 and wrapped in December 2005. In 2007 the film was released in various European countries.
In May 2007, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. The company specializes in acquiring and producing films for a wide variety of distribution platforms, but the group's main focus is non-theatrical markets .SPWA was formerly a division of Sony Pictures Home...
paid $6 million to acquire North American and select international distribution rights of 88 Minutes. The group released this film in the United States theatrically on April 18, 2008 through TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. is an American film production/distribution studio and subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures...
.
Plot
Forensic psychiatristForensic psychiatry
Forensic psychiatry is a sub-speciality of psychiatry and an auxiliar science of criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry...
Dr. Jack Gramm (Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
) testifies at the trial of suspected serial murderer Jon Forster (Neal McDonough
Neal McDonough
Neal P. McDonough is an American film, television and voice actor.-Career:In 1991, McDonough won the Best Actor Dramalogue for "Away Alone". McDonough has made many television and film appearances since then, including Band of Brothers, Boomtown, Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report and The...
), dubbed "The Seattle Slayer" by police. Gramm's testimony and expert psychiatric opinion
Expert witness
An expert witness, professional witness or judicial expert is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have expertise and specialised knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially and legally...
is crucial to help convict Forster of the murder of Joanie Coates, who was drugged with halothane
Halothane
Halothane is an inhalational general anesthetic. Its IUPAC name is 2-bromo-2-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane. It is the only inhalational anesthetic agent containing a bromine atom; there are several other halogenated anesthesia agents which lack the bromine atom and do contain the fluorine and...
, hung upside down with latches
Latch (hardware)
A latch is a type of mechanical fastener that is used to join two objects or surfaces together while allowing for the regular or eventual separation of the objects or surfaces....
, and raped and tortured after the killer broke into her home. After receiving his conviction by the jury, Forster taunts Gramm, saying "Tick- tock, Doc."
Nine years later, as Forster's execution date approaches, several similar torture murder
Torture murder
Torture murder is a loosely defined term to describe a murder where death has been preceded by the torture of the victim. In many legal jurisdictions a murder involving "exceptional brutality or cruelty" will involve a harsher sentence.-Punishment:...
s with very similar modi operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
occur. Gramm is questioned by a lawyer from the Attorney General's office as well as FBI Special Agent Frank Parks (William Forsythe
William Forsythe (actor)
William Forsythe is an American actor, known for playing "tough guy" roles. He is also a writer, and has several short stories that are set to be published.-Early life:...
) about his connection to the latest victim, Dale Morris, a former psychology student of Gramm's whom he was at a party with the night before, just hours before her death. On the way to his class, Gramm receives a phone call from someone using software to distort their voice, threatening he has 88 minutes to live. He later reports the call to his secretary Shelly (Amy Brenneman
Amy Brenneman
Amy Frederica Brenneman is an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles in the television series NYPD Blue, Judging Amy and Private Practice...
) and has her put together a risk assessment profile of potential perpetrators.
Gramm receives another threatening phone call while teaching and becomes suspicious of his students, particularly Mike Stempt (Benjamin McKenzie
Benjamin McKenzie
Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan , better known as Benjamin McKenzie, is an American actor and producer. He is best known for playing Ryan Atwood in the television series The O.C. and for playing Ben Sherman in Southland. He appeared in the films Junebug and 88 Minutes which earned him a Sarasota Film...
). The Dean of students, Carol Johnson (Deborah Kara Unger
Deborah Kara Unger
Deborah Kara Unger is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films Crash , The Game , The Hurricane , White Noise , Silent Hill and 88 Minutes...
), interrupts the class to evacuate the building due to a bomb threat called in. As he evacuates the lecture hall, Gramm finds a written threat on the overhead projector in the classroom as well as on his car, which has been vandalized in the parking garage. Gramm then is met by his teaching assistant Kim Cummings (Alicia Witt
Alicia Witt
Alicia Roanne Witt is an American film, stage, television actress and singer.-Early life:Witt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her mother, Diane , is a junior high school reading teacher, and her father, Robert Witt, is a science teacher and photographer. She has a brother, Ian...
) who offers to help him find the person that's been targeting him. In the stairwell of the parking garage, Gramm comes upon one of his students, Lauren Douglas (Leelee Sobieski
Leelee Sobieski
Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski , known professionally as Leelee Sobieski, is an American actress. Sobieski achieved recognition in her mid-teens for her performance in the 1998 film Deep Impact...
), attacked by an unknown assailant and reports the assault to Campus Security.
Gramm and Kim go to his condo where a package has been delivered. Lauren Douglas drops by with the risk assessment of people who may want to kill him that he requested Shelly to fax to his home. The package contains an old audio tape of his kid-sister, Katie, begging for her life and her subsequent murder. Gramm later explains she was killed several years ago when he left her alone in his apartment while he attended an important meeting; the crime took exactly 88 minutes. As Gramm determines someone had accessed his secure files to obtain the audio tape, suddenly Kim's ex-husband, Guy LaForge (Stephen Moyer
Stephen Moyer
Stephen Moyer is an English actor who has starred as vampire Bill Compton in the HBO series True Blood since 2008.-Early life and career:Moyer was born in Brentwood, Essex...
), shows up with a gun but is shot and killed from behind by an unknown person wearing a motorcycle helmet and leather protective gear. The shooter flees through the crowd outside after a fire alarm is triggered in the building.
Next, Gramm and Kim visit Sara Pollard (Leah Cairns
Leah Cairns
Leah Cairns is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as one of the Raptor pilots, Lieutenant Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson, on the Sci Fi Channel television program Battlestar Galactica.-Biography:...
), the woman Gramm was with the night before, but find her murdered in her apartment with evidence incriminating Gramm. Carol calls Gramm and makes comments alluding that she is the killer and demands Gramm meet her at his office. Shelly arrives at Sara's apartment and advises Gramm she suspects Lauren was the one who stole the audio tape of Gramm's sister's death. Kim disappears from the apartment and later calls Gramm with a threat similar to Carol's, also demanding he meet her at the office.
Through prison visitation records, Gramm deduces that Forster's appeals attorney, "Lydia Doherty" is actually Lauren using a pseudonym, and surmises she set up the frame on orders from Forster from jail. Kim calls again instructing Gramm come to another nearby location on campus where he finds Carol has been hung over a seventh floor balcony and Kim is tied up and gagged, held at gun point by Lauren. Lauren threatens Gramm and forces him to "confess" on tape that he gave false testimony at Forster's trial. Special Agent Parks arrives and shoots Lauren, causing both Carol and Lauren to fall from the balcony. Gramm saves Carol, but Lauren comes loose and plummets to her death. When Forster calls asking to speak with Lauren, Gramm informs him Lauren is dead, the set up is over. He then quips "tick tok, tick tok, You got 12 hours to live"
Cast
- Al PacinoAl PacinoAlfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
as Dr. Jack Gramm - Alicia WittAlicia WittAlicia Roanne Witt is an American film, stage, television actress and singer.-Early life:Witt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her mother, Diane , is a junior high school reading teacher, and her father, Robert Witt, is a science teacher and photographer. She has a brother, Ian...
as Kim Cummings - Leelee SobieskiLeelee SobieskiLiliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski , known professionally as Leelee Sobieski, is an American actress. Sobieski achieved recognition in her mid-teens for her performance in the 1998 film Deep Impact...
as Lauren Douglas/Lydia Doherty - Amy BrennemanAmy BrennemanAmy Frederica Brenneman is an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles in the television series NYPD Blue, Judging Amy and Private Practice...
as Shelly Barnes - William ForsytheWilliam Forsythe (actor)William Forsythe is an American actor, known for playing "tough guy" roles. He is also a writer, and has several short stories that are set to be published.-Early life:...
as Special Agent Frank Parks - Deborah Kara UngerDeborah Kara UngerDeborah Kara Unger is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films Crash , The Game , The Hurricane , White Noise , Silent Hill and 88 Minutes...
as Carol Johnson - Benjamin McKenzieBenjamin McKenzieBenjamin McKenzie Schenkkan , better known as Benjamin McKenzie, is an American actor and producer. He is best known for playing Ryan Atwood in the television series The O.C. and for playing Ben Sherman in Southland. He appeared in the films Junebug and 88 Minutes which earned him a Sarasota Film...
as Mike Stempt - Neal McDonoughNeal McDonoughNeal P. McDonough is an American film, television and voice actor.-Career:In 1991, McDonough won the Best Actor Dramalogue for "Away Alone". McDonough has made many television and film appearances since then, including Band of Brothers, Boomtown, Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report and The...
as Jon Forster - Leah CairnsLeah CairnsLeah Cairns is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as one of the Raptor pilots, Lieutenant Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson, on the Sci Fi Channel television program Battlestar Galactica.-Biography:...
as Sara Pollard - Stephen MoyerStephen MoyerStephen Moyer is an English actor who has starred as vampire Bill Compton in the HBO series True Blood since 2008.-Early life and career:Moyer was born in Brentwood, Essex...
as Guy LaForge - Christopher Redman as Jeremy Guber
- Brendan FletcherBrendan FletcherBrendan Fletcher is a Canadian actor.-Life and career:Fletcher was born in Comox Valley, British Columbia and went to junior high school at Lake Trail in Courtenay, British Columbia....
as Johnny d'Franco - Michael EklundMichael EklundMichael Eklund is a Canadian actor, who has made numerous appearances in both television and film roles.-Acting career:Since 2006, Eklund has appeared as Vancouver Narcotics detective, Rene Dejardins, in CBC's drama, Intelligence....
as J.T. Rycker - Kristina Copeland as Dale Morris
- Tammy Hui as Janie Cates
- Vicky HuangVicky HuangVicky Huang is a Chinese-Canadian actress. Her film credits include Hiro, 88 Minutes and They Wait. In 2010 she appeared on an episode of the television series Shattered.-Filmography:*Hardwired as Aide...
as Joanie Cates - Victoria Tennant II as Kate
- Michal YannaiMichal YannaiMichal Yannai is an Israeli actress.In 2003, she married businessman Ofer Resles. They divorced in 2005.In 2007 she participated in the Israeli version of the stage show, Avenue Q.-External links:...
as Leeza Pearson - Paul CampbellPaul Campbell (Canadian actor)-Life and career:From 2004 to 2006 he portrayed Billy Keikeya on the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. Campbell's character was a personal assistant to President Laura Roslin....
as Albert Jackson - Shia LaBeoufShia LaBeoufShia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes . In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers...
as Student (Uncredited)
Production
Jon AvnetJon Avnet
Jonathan Michael "Jon" Avnet is an American director, writer and producer.-Early life:Avnet was born in Brooklyn, the son of Joan Bertha and Lester Francis Avnet, a corporate executive and electronics distributor. He attended Great Neck North High School in Great Neck, New York...
replaced James Foley
James Foley
James Foley is an American film director and screenwriter. He was born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, the son of a lawyer...
as director. Shero Rauf
Shero Rauf
Shero Rauf is a Kurdish-Iraqi actor and stuntman. He is the first Kurdish Iraqi to work as an actor, stuntman, 3D visual effects animator, lead artist, and assistant director in Hollywood movies.-Career:...
was the digital effects artist for the film.
Filming locations
The university scenes in the film were shot at the University of British ColumbiaUniversity of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
(UBC) near Vancouver, which stood in for a fictional Northwest Washington University. It attracted much attention on campus (mainly due to Pacino's presence in the film) and filming was interrupted repeatedly because of it. This also could have been because many integral scenes were filmed in the busiest areas of campus during peak class hours. It was common for students to exit buildings after class only to walk into a shooting location.
The Canadian location is much in evidence when Pacino enters a cab early in the film, with a Shoppers Drug Mart
Shoppers Drug Mart
Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation is Canada's largest pharmacy chain with more than 1,241 stores operating under the names Shoppers Drug Mart in nine provinces and two territories and Pharmaprix in Quebec as well as in Hawkesbury, Ontario....
store and a Canada Post
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
mailbox in the background. The cab passes a "licenced" establishment. In the middle of the movie there's a scene with a Roots Canada store in the background.
Critical reception
88 Minutes was heavily panned by critics. The review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 5% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 120 reviews. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the film has an average score of 17 out of 100, based on 27 reviews. The film was nominated for two Razzie Awards, Worst Actor for Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
and Worst Supporting Actress for Leelee Sobieski
Leelee Sobieski
Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski , known professionally as Leelee Sobieski, is an American actress. Sobieski achieved recognition in her mid-teens for her performance in the 1998 film Deep Impact...
.