Probably should have called this one "888 Minutes," only because it felt like it. Hey, if they wanted to simulate real time à la TV's "24" or 1995's "Nick of Time" (starring Johnny Depp), then that would have allowed enough time for the predictable ending, or at least give us something to set our watch by. Throw in the movies "Cellular" (2004) and a touch of "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), and you pretty much have the whole flick pieced together.

As much as I love Al Pacino, I also like movies that don't borrow so heavily from other movies, because then we already know where things are going. Half the fun is not knowing how the movie is going to end and then - whammo! - surprise ending.

In "88 Minutes," Pacino plays Dr. Gramm, an FBI forensic psychiatrist and college professor based in Seattle. A bit cocky and prejudiced, the good doctor also is a womanizer who picks women as psyched-out as he is at times. He's called upon to give testimony on serial rapist/murderer Jon Forster (Neal McDonough). If the doctor has any unforeseen bias with this fellow, it's probably because he killed his younger sister. Case closed. He's guilty, placed out of society and, almost a decade later, as his execution is about to commence ... well, what do we have here? Could it be the wrong individual was placed on death row? Is there a copycat killer loose on the streets, or could it be the real killer?

Compounding the doubts are the mysterious, cryptic phone calls Dr. Gramm receives telling him that he'll be history in 88 minutes. Man, that'll mess up your plans for the future, now won't it? On top of that, we get the requisite "60 Minutes"-sounding tick-tick-tick-tick-tick to let us know that Gramm's time is running out and that time is his enemy. Forget the copycat killer scenario, by the way, because this movie already is borrowing pretty heavily from some far-superior films.

Fortunately for Dr. Gramm, he can assign some of his top grad students to help figure out who is behind the killings and whether or not a link can be identified. Remember, though, that he's had more than his share of flings around campus, so he needs to focus. What becomes pretty obvious here is that the moviegoers are so far ahead of Dr. Gramm and his supposed "top students" that even a fifth-grader can predict who the real killer is. That was easily solved within the first 22 minutes.

In fact, the real time it takes watching this movie far exceeds 88 minutes, so maybe the editor is the guilty party. Add to that an increasing paranoia that the killings might be from someone close to him, explaining some of the murders taking place. Oh, yeah, there's a reason, too, behind the 88 minutes that he has left to live. Again, it's pretty easy, and you'll be so smart you could even attend one of Dr. Gramm's graduate courses on the subject.

It's amazing that so many decent actors would appear in such a mediocre outing as this. I'm guessing all the young actors wanted to say they worked in an Al Pacino movie, so that's probably why we had the likes of Amy Brenneman and Alicia Witt appearing here. What a waste, too, underutilizing William Forsythe (as FBI contact Frank Parks), who is such a good actor. The Oscar-winning Pacino, I'm guessing, wishes this movie could have gone direct to video, which it almost did when the studio execs were wondering how long this thing was going to sit on the shelves.

Directed by Jon Avnet ("Fried Green Tomatoes") and written by Gary Scott Thompson, "88 Minutes" may be the tick-tock of death for Pacino's character, but if I had been wearing a watch, I probably would have been checking it just so I could count the hours - er, minutes - before this thing ended.

- Howie Nave is host/manager of The Improv comedy club inside Harveys and reviews films for seven radio stations throughout Northern California and Nevada, including Sirius Radio. He hosts "Howie's Morning Rush" on Tahoe's KRLT radio, and you can see his film reviews on RSN. For past reviews, blogs and audio clips, visit www.HowieNave.com.