Rated R for disturbing violent content, brief nudity and language.
Directed by Jon Avnet (Righteous Kill)
Starring Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Amy Brenneman, Leelee Sobieski, Benjamin McKenzie, Deborah Kara Unger, William Forsythe, and Neal McDonough
Todd’s Word: 88 Minutes of misery.
Jonathan’s Word: Actually it was 108 minutes…
Todd’s Word: O.K. here’s the story… Jack Gramm (Al Pacino) is a successful forensic psychiatrist and college professor whose testimony sent serial killer Jon Forster (Neal McDonough) to prison. On the eve of Jon's execution, Jack receives a phone call telling him that he has eighty-eight minutes to live. Meanwhile a copycat is killing women that Jack knows.
Jonathan’s Word: This movie is just a repeat of SOOOOOOooooooo many other movies… it’s like a bad sense of de ja vu.
Todd’s Word: I’m actually starting to feel sorry for director, Jon Avnet. Is it possible for him to make a movie that isn’t horrible (See Righteous Kill review)? How is it that T.V.’s Boomtown was so good and his movies are so bad? My wife and I got Boomtown on DVD and we are actually afraid to go back and watch them now.
Jonathan’s Word: Boomtown rocked. It was pretty racy if I remember (like all T.V. these days), but very well written. And you’re correct. In this case, Avnet’s past performance is not a reflection of his recent work at all! The only thing that kept this film from becoming a “straight to rental” B-film was Pacino.
Todd’s Word: Al Pacino is not great in this film. There’s plenty of his vintage screaming and “hurrah” type lines, but there are so many scenes that just fell flat. In one scene in particular, he is supposed to get emotional while telling the story of his sister’s death; it is honestly some of the worst acting I have seen in a long time.
Jonathan’s Word: I honestly didn’t notice that… maybe because the movie was putting me to sleep. I just thought it looked like the typical case of “great actor choosing a bad film.” But in all honesty, I should have known that this film was bad when I noticed that William Forsythe was in the cast. That poor character actor has only had three or four noteworthy films in his entire career (and the guy has been in over a hundred films). Those are really bad numbers. Note this next time you’re looking at the back cover of a film at Blockbuster: Forsythe = crap film!
Todd’s Word: I wanted this movie to be good (despite everything I had heard) but it wasn’t…it was terrible. Rent something good and use this one as a coaster.
Jonathan’s Word: I agree 100%. Pull 1995’s Heat out of your old DVD collection and watch some real Pacino!
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Nobody should see it. But kids definitely shouldn’t. The murder scenes are graphic and there are several scenes of nudity.
Side Note:
As said above, we don’t recommend your kids see this film. But on the occasion that they actually have already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
