Simply Perfect

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

A quiet birthday celebration at home turns into a desperate race against the clock when a man is injected with poison and given eighty minutes to settle a lingering debt in Knockin' On Heaven's Door director Thomas Jahn's relentlessly tense white-knuckle thriller. Alex North is sitting at home and awaiting the arrival of his girlfriend Mona when an unexpected knock at the door reveals his old friend Walter, a likable restaurant owner who is inexplicably flanked by a pair of muscular thugs. When Alex failed to pay back the $15,000 he borrowed from Walter, he thought that his old friend would be a bit more understanding. But Walter wants his money back tonight, and in order to give Alex some incentive to work fast, he injects him with a time-release poison that will prove should an antidote fail to be administered within the next eighty minutes. Desperate, Alex races to his brother Vincent and gets into a serious car accident along the way. But the other people who were involved in the accident are none too pleased, and quickly give chase as Alex beats a hasty retreat to his brother's house. As Alex attempts to convince Vincent to give him the money that will save his life, he realizes that the police are hot on his trail as well. Not only that, but a vicious biker gang seems determined to track down Alex and his two buddies Floyd and Lloyd. Later, after seeing Lloyd shot dead by the leader of the gang, Alex manages to elude the pistol- packing bikers with a little help from Mona. Just as Alex begins to feel the effects of the poison that's currently coursing though his veins, he reaches Walter's restaurant prepared to pay off his debt. But Walter seems reluctant to accept Alex's payment. It's been quite a wild night for everyone involved, and before this debt is settled Walter has one last surprise for his old friend Alex. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

"80 Minutes" is "DOA" for the post-Tarantino generation. Thomas Jahn proves to be a better director than writer (something which, judging by his IMDb page, he seems to have realized himself; after 2011, he only directs): the film maintains a speedy forward movement, and it has some good car stunts. But the dialogue is often amateurish, and the ending practically cancels out the entire movie! I've seen this type of ending done before, successfully, ("The Game" comes to mind), but here it just makes "80 Minutes" a waste of, well, a few more than 80 minutes. Also, the stupendously sexy Natalia Avelon is wasted in a rather minor part. *1/2 out of 4.

Don't worry, "80 Minutes" is neither a prequel or a sequel to the awful Al Pacino movie "88 Minutes". This low-budget effort does manage to be better than that big budget movie... but not by much. I'll start by listing the little merit this movie had. It jumps into the action right away, using an intriguing (but not totally original) setup. And at no time could I ever admit that I was bored by all of what was going on. That's what's good about this movie - now to list some of the many problems I found. To begin with, the central figure is not very sympathetic - he's stupid, irresponsible, and seems to deserve what he's getting. He and the other actors in the movie also have a wide range of accents, making us wonder just where this movie is supposed to be taking place. The movie has a constant claustrophobic feeling, with the camera constantly jammed up right next to the action or characters so that it's often hard to tell what's going on. The movie is also photographed badly, murky and dark-looking, and out of focus. Also, the DVD manufacturer gave this movie the wrong aspect ration, which results in information at the sides of the screen being cut off. The movie has an unexpected twist ending, one that seems to have been inspired by a certain Michael Douglas movie, but as soon as it happens, many unexplained questions come to mind regarding how the whole charade was pulled off. While I wouldn't call this movie as bad as what previous IMDb user commenters have claimed up to this point, I still would not recommend that you watch "80 Minutes".

Once you get past the heavy accents and clearly Non-American dialog/culture/license plate continuity problems...the story is grudgingly possible. That is assuming they were trying to make a story that was set in America. But if you're looking for goofy action this is it. However, just when I was starting to get interested in the moral issue of friends vs money at the end...there is a plot twist that really ticked me off. I wish that they'd spent just a little bit more time fleshing this out and it might have actually been a good renter.SPOILERIt was all a set up for his birthday party?!?!?! Really? Really.