Pacino lite

If you really like Al Pacino, “88 Minutes” might be for you, because it’s Al Pacino’s movie.

I don’t mean this in the literal sense – the film was directed by Jon Avnet (“Boomtown,” “Fried Green Tomatoes”) and written by Gary Scott Thompson (“Las Vegas,” “Hollow Man”). But without Pacino, there’s no way this movie would have been made. Pacino is the sun and all the other cast members are mere planets, asteroids, satellites and other cosmic debris. After the opening scene, Pacino is in every scene of the movie.

The film’s plot revolves around the Seattle Slayer, a serial killer who has killed multiple women in the same elaborate fashion. We learn that despite having no physical evidence, Gramm’s testimony is so compelling it gets the jury to convict Jon Forster (Neal McDonough) and sentence him to death. Fast forward seven years later to the day of Forster’s scheduled execution. Forster is trying his hardest to get his execution postponed, which is aided by the fact that women are still being murdered. The same day, Pacino receives a call telling him he has 88 minutes (surprise!) to live.

What follows is a modernized version of the classic whodunit-mystery/thriller. Gramm becomes overwhelmingly paranoid of his students, co-workers and basically anyone he sees on the street. Most of the opening background scenes are pretty dull, but once Pacino gets that first call, the action picks up and remains entertaining the rest of the way through.

Being entertaining is the only real accolade I can credit to “88 Minutes.” It is the epitome of OK. The dialogue is cliche; each character has their own little secret/wrinkle that provides them with just enough depth to be interesting. Meanwhile, you are constantly being beaten over the head with possible suspects and other obvious clues you probably would have picked up on anyway. Of the usual plot twists, the most surprising was that Pacino’s character spelled his name “Gramm” when the whole time I had been expecting it to be “Graham.”

There are no descriptive adjectives for “88 Minutes,” because how many different ways can you describe “OK”? Wait for this one to come on TNT on a Sunday and it’ll fill your afternoon adequately.