The Life of David Gale (Widescreen Edition)
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Movie Reviews of The Life of David Gale (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: Why the hostility?
Summary: 4 Stars
So many critics complained that this film had a message or agenda, and that the filmmaker beat the audience over the head with the message. They talk as though this is a bad thing... in sea of look-alike adventure films with identical car chases, exploding fireballs, and heroes that can fly through the air, here we have a plausible drama that addresses a contentious issue in American culture. Yes, Parker has an anti-death penalty opinion -- he's from England for heaven's sake, and Europeans normally have a dim view of the United States' love for capital punishment. Especially in Texas. Parker's politics were clear as far back as Mississippi Burning. Is he supposed to ignore his own beliefs and make another orgy of car chases, shootouts, explosions and unsafe sex? No, instead he asks us to think, and at the end, answer some questions that we'd rather not: Have we executed innocent men? And, if so, is it worth it? I may not agree completely with Parker's politics, but I admire his courage. Movie Review: politically muddled flick
Summary: 1 Stars
Another liberal tear-jerking flick. The "surprise" ending is supposed to make us feel bad and finally see the light about how evil the dp is. Instead my wife and I got the feeling that maybe justice was served after all. Typically all the pro-dp characters in the movie are one-dimensional cartoons. They're all idiot bible-thumpers, including the governor who is of course a direct ripoff of George Bush. The plot is unbelievable, and when the final plot "twist" is revealed, I not only was glad for what happened in the movie to Spacey, I wanted to see the same justice done to the people who made this turkey. Another two plus hours of my life that I can't get back. Movie Review: The political economy of philosophy
Summary: 4 Stars
I only watched this movie once, a week after I saw "Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room," which also featured brilliant Texas business moves like *Death Star* kicking $30 billion of economic crap out of the economy of the state of California so energy traders would have some reason to show a profit on their balance sheet. The appeal of this movie is far more intellectual than the Enron crap shoot, but it is still a political rant aimed at whoever is faking great results in death penalty cases where the evidence is so full of obvious gaps that anyone's attorneys are likely to be considered incompetent.
The death penalty imposed on Socrates does not get much airtime in modern American movies, but this film has a drunken rant that highlights one of the major motivations of intellectual activity against the machinery of death being imposed by large organizations which have more interest in framing someone than in promoting an understanding of weird psychological motivations. Suicide is such an obvious solution for so many political situations that having a college professor frame himself as a form of suicide in which the inmate actually has some interest in controlling the distribution of $500,000 due and payable at the time of his own execution, having cash in an amount exceeding $10,000 not being a crime of major proportions compared to the rest of the plot of this movie, that people who find philosophy interesting ought to compare this movie to some old song, like "Ninety Miles an Hour Down a Dead End Street."
Movie Review: Not a bad movie at all...
Summary: 3 Stars
I did not undertsnda the Tomatometer of only 19% for this movie, while that piece of junk called LOST IN TRANSLATION gets almos 100%.
This is an intelligent, clever movie. It's not a thriller at all. It deals with the very controversial subject of the death penalty in a moderately neutral way, not stretching too far to any direction.
Spacey, of course, delivers another master performance. Liiney and Winslet are both very good actresses, WInslet proving that she cand do a lot more than that awful Rose from TITANIC.
Movie Review: A sprawling cinematic meal
Summary: 4 Stars
This film reminds me of those mega-platters served at my favorite Mexican restaurant: gargantuan, and cluttered with little embellishments that distract from the main course, but somehow quite satisfying when I'm in the mood. I had barely heard of this film until now, and it took a critical drubbing when it was released in early 2003, probably limiting its exposure.
What we have here is a plot connecting recently-divorced college professor David Gale, (Kevin Spacey), four days before his execution for the death, seven years prior, of Constance, a co-worker at Deathwatch, an organization dedicated to abolishing the death penalty. She is found handcuffed, naked on her kitchen floor, asphyxiated in Romanian 'Securitate' fashion by a plastic bag over her head. She's got Gale's DNA inside her, and he becomes the prime suspect, especially in light of an earlier 'situation' he was set up for. Something's not quite right, and we're called in, along with journalist Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet) to figure it out what's going on, ostensibly so that Gale's young son will grow up with the correct impression of what his dad is all about. Now wrap this in a Texas setting, and add plenty of political hot sauce over capital punishment, and you've got a vast jumble of elements that need juggling. In my opinion, it succeeds reasonably well. We see things unfold through Winslet's eyes in a manner reminiscent of Mia Farrow in 'Rosemary's Baby', and the effect is enchanting.
Director Alan Parker is not the most subtle cinematographer, and this work is no exception: we're bombarded by a vast array of incidental details, lights flashing, drunken excess, and bad limericks. It's easy to see why he was attracted to the detailed, somewhat obsessive script. The saving grace is that the script and director make the details work for the narrative. Characterizations are handled deftly so that going over the plot line from beginning to end - assuming you can accept a couple of basic premises whose revelation would amount to spoilers here- you can reflect on every character's motivation. Therein lies the film's greatest strength, even as it swims in its political gumbo.
Kevin Spacey gives us one of those smug, holier-than-thou Kaiser Soze-like interpretations here. He annoys me this way, but I'm not going to single out Alan Parker because the esteemed Professor Spacey dishes something he's apparently genetically programmed for - and face it, this script calls for that. For some reason, the entire cast dished out mega-helpings of overacting during the first half hour. As their collective adrenaline waned, things came closer back to earth and settled into something of an inspired groove.
If you're at all intrigued by this, you'll find this DVD excellent value, probably worth a purchase. There is a decent handful of extras: a good 'making of', some interviews, and commentary by Parker. Overall, I think Parker's high point is the 1986 film 'Angel Heart', where the element of fantasy was better suited to his visual montages, but this offering has plenty of personality, even if you have accept the whole 'David Gale' situation like a bunch of in-laws that you love in spite of a few vexing traits.