Possible Spoilers
The Life of David Gale is a tremendous mystery, thriller of a film that is an indictment of capital punishment. This film on the outside looks like just a murder mystery about a man who may or may not be guilty or innocent, but it takes a wonderful and unexpected turn and ends up being a lot more than that. I have been looking forward to his film ever since I saw the previews for it late last year, and was disappointed when it got pushed back to February. I am a huge fan of Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet, two of my favorite actors and actresses respectively. Kate Winslet plays Bitsey Bloom, a hard nosed take no prisoners attitude reporter for "News" magazine...effectively Newsweek. She has been sent down along with a bright, young intern Zack Stemmons played by Gabriel Mann, to the bible-belt of Huntington, Texas to interview a death row inmate 4 days shy of his execution. That man is David Gale played by Kevin Spacey, a man who has been sentenced to death for the murder of his colleague and friend Constance Harraway played by Laura Linney, who was found raped and murdered in her house six years earlier. Bitsey is to conduct three 2 hour interviews leading up to Gale's execution by lethal injection on the fourth day. She does not really know why she is there or what story will come from this. It is a major story because of who David Gale was and what he stood for. That man was an intellectual and professor of philosophy at Austin Unversity and he was the state's leading death penalty abolishinist along with Constance Harroway they lead an anti-capital punishment organization. The story is intercut between Bitsey's interviews, where we see David Gale's life leading up to the murder and Bitsey and her intern trying to figure out what really happened and why it did...did David Gale kill her? Was he framed or set up? etc. Now with this type of film usually the suspected inmate comes off as a decent guy and you know he didn't do it and eventually the real killer's are found out and brought to justice at the last minute...involving some convoluted conpiracy involving money, revenge etc. I am so glad this film did not take that easy route...it takes a startling and ultimately ver convincing path leading up to a story that is truly about self-sacrfice the ultimate of human experience that Spacey's character Gale talks about in one of his earlier scenes as a professor of philosophy. I won't really say too much than that because it might ruin what is a delicious surprise of a film. I understand that some might feel manipulated by this film and dismiss it as taking a one-sided stand on the subject of the death penalty. Let me say right now that I am for the death penalty, but that doesn't distract from what I think is a very good film condemning the death penalty. Politics is not an issue here for me. The system obviously has flaws(one being you have to wait 9 years on death row, which I find absurd) and this film proves they can be exploited. Overall, The Life of David Gale is not exploitative or manipulative...it doesn't pull a fast one on the audience. Howeer, it is a film about three people who exploit and manipulate capital punishment to brilliant affect. A story about self-sacrifice for what you believe in and featuring an excellent cast which includes Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet and Laura Linney. Just a superb gem of a film.
The Life of David Gale is a tremendous mystery, thriller of a film that is an indictment of capital punishment. This film on the outside looks like just a murder mystery about a man who may or may not be guilty or innocent, but it takes a wonderful and unexpected turn and ends up being a lot more than that. I have been looking forward to his film ever since I saw the previews for it late last year, and was disappointed when it got pushed back to February. I am a huge fan of Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet, two of my favorite actors and actresses respectively. Kate Winslet plays Bitsey Bloom, a hard nosed take no prisoners attitude reporter for "News" magazine...effectively Newsweek. She has been sent down along with a bright, young intern Zack Stemmons played by Gabriel Mann, to the bible-belt of Huntington, Texas to interview a death row inmate 4 days shy of his execution. That man is David Gale played by Kevin Spacey, a man who has been sentenced to death for the murder of his colleague and friend Constance Harraway played by Laura Linney, who was found raped and murdered in her house six years earlier. Bitsey is to conduct three 2 hour interviews leading up to Gale's execution by lethal injection on the fourth day. She does not really know why she is there or what story will come from this. It is a major story because of who David Gale was and what he stood for. That man was an intellectual and professor of philosophy at Austin Unversity and he was the state's leading death penalty abolishinist along with Constance Harroway they lead an anti-capital punishment organization. The story is intercut between Bitsey's interviews, where we see David Gale's life leading up to the murder and Bitsey and her intern trying to figure out what really happened and why it did...did David Gale kill her? Was he framed or set up? etc. Now with this type of film usually the suspected inmate comes off as a decent guy and you know he didn't do it and eventually the real killer's are found out and brought to justice at the last minute...involving some convoluted conpiracy involving money, revenge etc. I am so glad this film did not take that easy route...it takes a startling and ultimately ver convincing path leading up to a story that is truly about self-sacrfice the ultimate of human experience that Spacey's character Gale talks about in one of his earlier scenes as a professor of philosophy. I won't really say too much than that because it might ruin what is a delicious surprise of a film. I understand that some might feel manipulated by this film and dismiss it as taking a one-sided stand on the subject of the death penalty. Let me say right now that I am for the death penalty, but that doesn't distract from what I think is a very good film condemning the death penalty. Politics is not an issue here for me. The system obviously has flaws(one being you have to wait 9 years on death row, which I find absurd) and this film proves they can be exploited. Overall, The Life of David Gale is not exploitative or manipulative...it doesn't pull a fast one on the audience. Howeer, it is a film about three people who exploit and manipulate capital punishment to brilliant affect. A story about self-sacrifice for what you believe in and featuring an excellent cast which includes Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet and Laura Linney. Just a superb gem of a film.