I pretty much agree with Lecter. He summed it up best so there isn't pretty much else to add except for that without Pacino I think this is pretty much a decent DTV film. With him you expect more and it just doesn't deliver. The acting is hammy and yet I didn't hate any of the performances. Amy Brennaman is good. Alicia Witt gives one of the most wooden performances to date but she's easy on the eyes. Leelee Sobieski isn't very good, but she's only in the film for about 10 minutes so she gets a pass somewhat. And Pacino is Pacino. Yeah he might have been sleepwalking through this, but his sleepwalking performances are better than most. And then there are some people who are just completely wasted. What is Deborah Unger doing here?
As for the story, I'm probably being very lenient but I don't have many problems with it. My biggest gripe with the film is that the killer is just too lame. You can't talk about the killer of course without giving it away, so I'll just put this in spoilers.
Are we supposed to buy that Neal McDonough's character has that much influence over Leelee Sobieski? There's not enough of a backstory provided where we could actually buy that she could become a copycat killer and then go after Gramm (I haven't ever seen Gramm spelled that way). Why? As his attorney did she fall in love with him? What, what was it? The film never explains this and therefore I think the ending is a bit of a cheat.
The journey to the finale is not bad though. It's a little dull, but there were parts that I liked. The MSNBC phone call was good as well as some other stuff inside Pacino's apartment (although it doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of building) and I liked the stuff at campus. There was also another good scene between Pacino and Witt inside of the cab. Everything else is just kind of boring though and that's why the film doesn't work. It's just not interesting. That's also why some people who might go to see this and try and get some laughs out of it, aren't going to be able to. There's just not much here that's unintentionally funny. Maybe it'll play differently on DVD.
Well that's it. The ending is lame, and the journey to it is a little bit boring, but it's not awful. I liked some of the performances (Brennaman and Pacino) and some people are just wasted. 88 Minutes is probably best viewed on DVD, but I wouldn't go in expecting much.........or to laugh.
**