Directed by:
Alan ParkerScreenplay:
Charles RandolphCinematography:
Michael SeresinComposer:
Alex ParkerCast:
Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet, Laura Linney, Gabriel Mann, Rhona Mitra, Leon Rippy, Matt Craven, Jim Beaver, Melissa McCarthy, Julio Cedillo, Alan Parker (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Gale (Kevin Spacey) is a Texas professor and anti-death penalty activist who, ironically enough, winds up on death row for the rape and murder of a colleague. Kate Winslet plays Bitsey Bloom, the brave journalist who sets out to tell to his story. In the days leading up to his execution, Gale fills her in on his life via flashbacks, which include political debates, lectures, sex with a student, rape allegations, alcoholism, divorce, and despair. As the hour of his doom approaches, Bitsey becomes convinced that Gale is the victim of a shadowy political conspiracy and races against the clock to prove his innocence. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (9)
This could have been such a great movie, but for me, the script is bad. The actors try their best, although Kate just bothered me here, but the script tries to be so clever that it's overly convoluted to the point where it's predictable, and more than a surprising twist, what you hear is the political agitation. This could have been very clever, but it's not.
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Good film, but I have several problems with it. I didn’t mind much the strong political stance regarding the death penalty, because, even if I’m more on the side of the fence the film is against, this is a topic where I can understand and accept the arguments on both sides. What bothered me a lot is that the script gives the savvy viewer an unnecessary chance to ruin the surprise. I figured out the twist (and I don’t mean any other twist, but the main “schock” in the last scene) about twenty minutes in. I know it exactly, because I looked at the clock so, in case I would be right, I could boast about how savvy I am :-D. The script is so loose, for instance, I didn’t find very convincing the relationship between the two journalists. And the last quibble is personal: Kevin Spacey is one of my favourite actors, but as the philosophy professor David Gale, I realised how similar he is to one university professor that taught us philosophy in secondary school, and from that moment on, his performance felt weird…
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The Life of David Gale is a pretty solid crime-thriller that builds up strongly throughout the story to a surprising denouement that no doubt deserves praise. The flawless performances of the trio Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet and Laura Linney also deserve a special mention, because this was simply a star-studded acting tour de force. In short, a sincere film where the cast and the engaging premise are the biggest attractions.
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Something is rotten in the state of Texas. Although, in the end, this doesn’t really apply... Alan Parker chose a fascinating theme and excellent actors. And he turned them into an above-average picture where political activism is not a dirty word. Parker trips up a little over the over-transparent screenplay. When a filmmaker reveals his hand already at the half-way point of a movie, then there isn’t much point in developing on this revelation for the entire final half-hour. This isn’t a shortcoming that wrecks the movie, but it does make it difficult to sympathize fully with the characters and so the emotional experience is affected. But since this is such an above-average picture, despite the above this is certainly no time-waster. In fact, it is quite the opposite.
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A gala performance from the trio Kevin Spacey-Kate Winslet-Laura Linney and a story with a strong message. However, the sometimes confusing directing and the pace of the storytelling occasionally detract from its overall rating, with plot twists coming one after another at times, while at others the entire drama just stays lazily in one place. It doesn't bother me, but it unnecessarily disrupts the impression of coherence.
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