88 Minutes (NEW Pacino Thriller)

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.empireonline.co.uk/site/news/newsstory.asp?news_id=16965

Fried Green Death

Pacino has 88 Minutes to live in Jon Avnet’s new thriller
19 July 2005

The director of Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Café hooking up with the star of Scent Of A Woman… How could the result be anything less than a knuckle-whitening, pulse-quickening thrill ride?

Well, Al Pacino and Jon Avnet might not be names you’d readily associate with high-concept popcorn flicks, but their new project threatens to be just that. Scripted by The Fast And The Furious writer Gary Thompson, 88 Minutes will tell the tale of a college professor, played by Pacino, who pulls down a second job — as forensic psychiatrist for the FBI.

The perk of picking up dual paychecks wears thin, however, when he is informed that he has exactly 88 minutes left to live. Rather than finishing off the last couple of episodes on his Seinfeld box set or hiding under his desk, the professor embarks on a mission to track down his enemies and save his life.

Wiith a 24 movie in an early stage of development, could this be Pacino’s attempt to out-Bauer Bauer? With that time-specific title, it would be a bit of a surprise if 88 Minutes doesn’t jump onto the real-time bandwagon. Which, so long as it’s a hell of a lot better than Nick Of Time, sounds good to us.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=10445

Jon Avnet to Helm 88 Minutes

Source: Variety
July 19, 2005



Jon Avnet will direct Al Pacino in 88 Minutes, a co-production of Millennium Films and Emmett/Furla Films. Variety says the drama is set for an October 15 start in Vancouver.

Written by Gary Thompson (The Fast and the Furious, NBC's Las Vegas), 88 Minutes centers on a college professor who moonlights as a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI. The professor must use his sleuthing skills to save his hide after he's told that he'll be killed in 88 minutes.

Avnet previously directed Fried Green Tomatoes and his most recent feature was 1997's Red Corner.

 

[Pablo Parker]

Wiith a 24 movie in an early stage of development, could this be Pacino’s attempt to out-Bauer Bauer?

so... they are making a 24 movie?

 

[Dark Donnie]

it's Pachino, so there is a good chance it will be good, I like the real time idea as well.

 

[The Trainman]

Wasn't this film supposed to come out in like 2003 or 2004??

 

[Carter]

Yay, Im getting my phd in forensic psychiatry

 

[Hunter Rider]

Yay, Im getting my phd in forensic psychiatry

you only have 88 minutes to live as well ?

 

[Carter]

I hope not....

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.empireonline.co.uk/news/story.asp?NID=17199

Three Sign On For Pacino’s 88 Minutes
Real-time murder mystery lands star

Hoo-hah! Al Pacino’s real-time murder mystery, 88 Minutes – in which he plays a college professor who’s told that he will be murdered in, well, you guessed it – is finally going ahead, after an extensive period in development.

How do we know this? Well, filming starts in Vancouver on Saturday, which is a major clue, and today the main supporting cast was announced. The three lucky souls who have to look on in awe as Big Al tries to swallow the scenery are Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski, and Neal McDonough.

Witt, who’s some 35 years younger than Pacino, will nonetheless play his teaching assistant love interest. Sobieski will play one of his students, while McDonough will assay a Death Row inmate whom Pacino – who also happens to be an FBI psychologist in his spare time - suspects is instrumental in the death threat. So it’s bound to be him, then.
Jon Avnet will direct. It all sounds interesting, so needless to say we’re going to keep an eye on it. Hoo-hah!

 

[ROBOCOP CPU001]

no way can he out do Bauer...not even the great pacino.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

I agree with Robocop, nobody can out do-Bauer.

 

[Downhere]

Pacino will most likely be playing Pacino in this movie...just like his last 5 movies.

 

[Hunter Rider]

88 Minutes Trailer

This seems to have slipped online a month ago without anyone notiicng...at least it was never reported on any of the main film sites like CS

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2754901

 

[Hunter Rider]

There's a poster as well

 

[tzarinna]

Sounds intresting,I always think of that MTV show with that kid that only had so much time to live When I hear of such time constraint premises. I can't think of it Dead at something....21.Yeah, I liked that show.

 

[블라스]

I've been tired of Pacino for some time now.
He always plays the same character

His best movies, IMO, are the Godfather Trilogy.

 

[tzarinna]

I like the poster

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/34011

Al Pacino? Straight To DVD? A Review Of 88 MINUTES!

Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

I saw that some photos from the set of RIGHTEOUS KILL showed up, featuring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino together. That film, like this one, is directed by Jon Avnet, and like this one, rumor has it that RIGHTEOUS KILL will be headed directly to DVD. That’s crazy, and I can’t imagine it’s right, but that’s what we can expect for 88 MINUTES.

Why? Maybe this spy can explain:

Hey Moriarty!

I've just seen 88 minutes with Al Pacino directed by the impersonal Jon Avnet. I don't know why the released date has been pushed several times to 2008, because it's not a bad movie. It's a mediocre thriller, but not bad.

Alfonse plays a hot shot Seattle psychiatrist who helps the local police (represented by William Forsythe) catch serial killers. He's a single womanizer who has zero commitment. How do we know he's a ruthless son of a *****? Because he lives in an penthouse with no decoration and lots of steel (A clear sign of that personality, at least in the movies). Anyway, he's about to watch the execution of a serial killer (Neal McDonough) he helped get his conviction. He likes to manipulate people and, although they found no DNA or hard evidence, Al convinced the juror he was the murderer of several women (victims were found with their throats slit and hanging upside down tied to one feet). I forgot, Al likes to **** his female students too.

Well. He receives an anonymous call on his cell that he's about to die in 88 minutes. One of her student (who he might or might not slept with) turns up dead, another student (Leelee Sobieski) is attacked in the campus by a stranger, another one (Alicia Witt) who has crushed on Al, is stalked by her ex. His car blows up, etc. A lot of **** happens in those 88 minutes. Why 88? Because that number has something to do with the death of his kid sister some 30 years ago. Oops!

88 Minutes, altough it could, it's not filmed in real time like, Nick of Time. Al drives a cab and runs a lot around Seattle against the clock, altough we are reminded of the time because the serial killer keeps calling and tellling "you have x minutes left". The premise it's interesting because like any whodunit the movie has a lot of secondary characters. Besides the aforementioned there's also Amy Brenneman as Al's lesbian secretary, Benjamin "Th O.C" McKenzie as an obnoxious student and the lovely Debora Kara Unger as the Campus' Dean. Wow, lots of characters.

As the story unfolds the plot gets mud thick. **** thick. There's a lot of connections between characters and once we know the truth it's hard to track back the different events that lead to the resolution. There are some nice thriller touches like at one point you think that ALL OF THEM are in cahoots like in The Game. But's the solution it's simpler. Far simpler. When I watch these type of films I expect a good resolution. It's hard because its plot tries all the time to fool you and when the true killer appears is always a letdown. Such it's the case. And worse, the killer engages in the typical explanation of the plot because otherwise we wouldn't understand ****.

Anyway, Al's acting is good. He doesn't scream a lot and looks haggard and with a hangover (oh...the eighties...) and wears his usual black wardrobe. The movie is a B-thriller with familiar faces. At one point we think that Alicia Witt is going to bare it all, but damn, she's left with a t-shirt. Those non nudity contracts...

Johan Hofzinser out.

Thanks!

ps: forgive my neanderthal English. It's not my native language.

ps2: I also sent a review of The Brave One a couple of weeks ago but I think it didn't reach you.

 

[OobeDoobBenubi]

It must suck if a Robert De Niro & Al Pacino is going right to DVD

 

[enterthemadness]

It must suck if a Robert De Niro & Al Pacino is going right to DVD

Dtv is the future, even though I don't agree with it. It's cheaper to release a film to dvd than into theaters. Doesn't mean this film is bad though....could be though.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Carmine Falcone]

This has been available on DVD here for a few months now. Didn't bother to go see it though. Not interested. Pacino really isn't the reason to see a film anymore.

 

[ROBOCOP CPU001]

it wasn't that bad.

 

[Carmine Falcone]

But it wasn't really good either?

 

[Dark Donnie]

it wasn't that bad.

I read that the film was pretty heavily flawed, there were some sort of continuity issues throughout the film.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Robo, is this out on DVD in the UK ? It now has an April 18th cinema release in the US.