The Life of David Gale (Widescreen Edition)
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Movie Reviews of The Life of David Gale (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: Short & to the point!
Summary: 1 Stars
AVOID THIS LOSER OF A FILM...unless you have NO life and just want to waste 2+ hours! The time is better spent picking lint out of your bellybutton! Unless you are a liberal who thinks criminals can do no wrong & have more rights than they give their victims--then it's right up your wrong-headed alley! Movie Review: Horrifying,Wretched, and Ludicrous!
Summary: 1 Stars
Let me tell you, nothing makes me happier than when I see a movie purporting to present the arguement, by at least some of it's cast, that all life is sacred and redeemable, deliver a "point-by-point" instructional on "how-to" suffocate and rape a bound woman.... ENSURING she will have no hope of escape. Yep, nothing could be more humane. Not even abolishing the death penalty, which, if that was a goal of the screenwriter (first and god-I-hope-last time penner Charles Rudolph) or the normally reliable director Alan Parker, it should ask those gentlemen to kindly horse-whip themselves. The level of ludicrous, empty violence against WOMEN in this film is SICKENING. David Gale, who is supposed to be this harmless, likeable, Casper Milquetoast college professor becomes disturbingly drunk at a student/faculty party and has gross skirt-yanked-up,woman presses-against-the front-of-a-sink (hey, why not just have her on her knees in front of a toilet?), man panting wordlessly... (cause ya know that's how all us COLLEGE GALS luv it)... exposed-breasts-jiggling (I could practically see that obnoxious, misguided limey old fart Pakula drooling while he filmed it...sorry, I'm MAD!) bathroom sex with a MUCH younger woman who earlier told him she would "do anything for a good grade". Not only does Gale lead her on when she propositions him then with a lascivious, leering "rejection" of her "advances" where he practically leaves a trail of slime down her neck into her cleaveage, (why doesn't he just firmly turn her down? Because he's SKANKY), but also the film seems to imply that, though he is married, the bathroom sex is a justifiable act b/c A. She was asking for it B. Gale's wife is rumored to have (presumably an ADULT, non-STUDENT) lover in Spain. So later when this pissed-off lass "cries rape" (oh, it just gets yummier and yummier) Gale's life as a prof. at that school is over. Despite the fact that he was not convicted, apparently he cannot find a teaching job ANYWHERE else in the free world. Not even the virgin islands, where I hear you can get a medical degree for 5 bucks and a carton of menthols. So now we're in for some legendarily bad acting of the "look-ma-I'm-drunk" variety. You know, don't we all scream at people on the streets, carry bottles of liquor around w/ us i public, and open our mouths and leave them there like we're a stroke-victims whenever we're drunk? Gosh I know I do! I mean, it is LAUGHABLE! Spacey is SO BAD. It's like he had a secret bet w/ some of the crew guys or something. How could Pakula not notice? By the way, Kate Winslet's worst performance ever. EVER. Chin tremby, no tears, hideously contrived wailing pre-schooler fake-crying her way into more Kool-aid and cookies from mommy. AWFUL. We are supposed to believe Gale's meltdown is fueled by evil, adulterous wifey yanking kid away w/ her to Spain. The meltdown and loss of hope are at the center of an agreement he later sets up w/ Constance. The further objectification of women continues when Laura Linney's character "Constance" is given leukemia. Despite her UNSHAKEABLE opposition to the death penalty and her cavalry calling to save EVERY soul condemned, she decides the only thing to do now since "I'm sick" is to "kill myself and use my death to martyr a suicidal Gale for the anti-death penalty movement." We are asked to believe that since this is FOR A CAUSE it is ALL RIGHT. Yeah, Constance killing herself and leaving her beloved organization bereaved and without a leader is OKEE DOKEE and so totally a sane decision any educated, female democrat would make.And HEY! Don't worry kids, we get to see her death scene in all it's exploitive glory. Pakula says in the extras that he and Linney chose not to use a body double so it would be more "REAL" to him, her, and the other actors. It couldn't possibly be b/c she is SLENDER and BEAUTIFUL and quite a tasty feast for the eyes when she's all naked and writhing on the floor? Nothing like a hot lady who's nude and handcuffed w/ a bag over her head, suffocating, Eh? Remember when a chubby goth girl offers to reinact the murder scene for Winslet's reporter character earlier in the film I noticed she is asked to "please" NOT remove her clothes. DISGUSTING. SOOOOOO SEXIST. I don't even think Pakula knows how an educated, left-leaning informed female movie viewer like myself truly sees all this. The theme of this movie seems to be: "2 wrongs make a right." If your wife has an affair: fu*k your failing and desperate female student from behind while you're drunk at a party. If you disagree with the death penalty: forge your own death and then set up a drunken, suicidal divorced patsy to take the fall for it so that he, an "innocent" man, can be convicted to the "lethal needle" and you can prove, once-and-for-all, how the system you MANIPULATED and SNOWED is "flawed." The calculated, preposterous machinations one would have to have undertaken for this film's ending to rationally occur would be beyond the reach and scope of anyone who had a remote ammount of decency or the slightest sprinkling of respect for justice or, God forbid, truth...or for that matter, for women or themselves. THIS MOVIE IS DOG PUKE. Rent it so you can HATE it, as do I. On a positive note, the cinematography is gorgeous, every scene is glossy and perfectly lit, the extras rule, and the music, by Pakula's 2 sons, is very good. Movie Review: Utter Garbage ...
Summary: 1 Stars
The only way for me to make my point is to possibly give away the ending. I promise to watch my step, but if you want to be surprised at the lame "twist" then stop reading.
Alright, here it is. David Gale, a devout anti-death-penalty advocate finds himself on death row for the murder of his close friend and one-time fling. It seems like an open and shut case, but David is swearing his innocence and says he's being framed, which catches the attention of "Bitsey" Bloom (now there's a name that just commands respect)
Anyway, the film chases its own tail for a little and, after a while, it's insinuated that David may have made himself LOOK guilty just to attract attention to the cause by becoming some kind of martyr.
See ... here's the problem, two-thirds of the way into the movie the film's story paints itself into a corner it can't get out of. What we're left with as the film begins to reach its 'big reveal' are two different directions the plot can take to resolve itself:
1. David is actually innocent of the crime, and tampered with the evidence to make himself look guilty - This doesn't make any sense because he's disproving his own argument. If he subverted the justice system to make himself look guilty and he's then convicted, isn't that proof that the system works? 'The System' isn't cheating Gale, Gale's cheating the system by tampering with his own trial to get the verdict he wants. How can this then be held up as proof that the death-penalty is wrong?
2. David actually did it - In which case he was convicted of murder and is sitting on death row. This, if true, means we've wasted two hours of our time watching Kevin Spacey over-act.
The thing is, neither of these scenarios work. In either option, David SHOULD be on death row; he either doctored his trail to get himself there or he's actually a murderer.
The film was CLEARLY trying to make a statement about the injustice of capital punishment, but in the process only managed to (pardon the pun) shoot itself in the foot and discredit its own argument.
Movie Review: Worth your time
Summary: 4 Stars
After first picking up "The Life of David Gale" and reading its description, I was a bit turned off. Yes, it appeared thrilling and, heck, it MIGHT even sport a good enough mystery to keep me from walking away. But the plot was not very well explained, and I was hessitant about spending money on a film I didn't know much about (I'd never even heard of it before!). Seeing as the store wasn't asking anywhere near full price, I decided to give it a shot. After all, I am usually fond of Spacey's work.
I wasn't expecting much when I first started viewing, but the film wasn't too slow to pick up. I was a bit turned off by the scenes of excessive converse, but in the end it all was essential to the plotline. This movie turned out to be a great, dynamic mystery with an unpredictable and unforgettable conclusion. It will leave you with mixed emotions of awe, sympathy, admiration, and even outrage at our justice system. "The Life of David Gale" set out to make a statement about capital punishment, and boy, did it do just that.
Performances by Spacey and Winslet were pretty good, and the only character who I found burdened the film was Laura Linney's, who was, quite bluntly, annoying.
Most viewers may not be able to stomach this film more than once, but all in all it is definately worth seeing.
Movie Review: The Life of David Gale
Summary: 5 Stars
Movies of this genre tend to be quite predictable, and so I try to avoid them; but under the impression that the ending had a unique twist, I gave it a try. In the end, I find myself in a position where I have to admit that this is an excellent movie--and not only because the ending is not (thankfully) predictable. The movie obviously has an agenda, and therefore will obviously have its diehard detractors, but objectively, it does make a strong case for why capital punishment is unacceptable.