Release Date: February 21, 2003
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet, Laura Linney, Gabriel Mann, Leon Ribby, Matt Craven
Directed by: Alan Parker
Written by: Charles Rudolph
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: R (violent images, nudity, language, sexuality)
The Life of David Gale holds nothing back in its effort to get us to think about capital punishment and our own mortality. Though the film takes its shots at execution-ripe Texas, the Bible belt, and old Southern traditions, its ambitions run much deeper than a little political sniping. The movie, like several before it, successful establishes that there are plenty of philosophical and moral questions at stake in the decision to pull the switch on a condemned prisoner.
As the title suggests, the film looks at the life of David Gale (Kevin Spacey), a University of Texas professor who stands accused of raping and murdering his colleague Constance Hallway (Laura Linney), through flashbacks as Gale tells his story to a news magazine reporter named Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet). Ironically, Gale is a fervent anti-capital punishment activist, and throughout their three-day interview, Bitsey begins to question Gale’s guilt and sets out to set him free -- even as his execution day looms.
The director is Alan Parker, who has the helm with a talented cast that includes Spacey and Linney inducing emotion and Kate Winslet exhibiting an uncommon amount of physical strength in a feminine role. But what really made the film work was a well-written script by Charles Randolph that made the audience think, kept them entertained, and, ultimately and most importantly, kept the viewers guessing.
Truthfully, this may seem like every other death row movie that has been released in the past ten years. The difference, then, is that those films usually thrive on the condemned character -- are worthy of life? Last Dance, a 1996 Bruce Beresford film starring Sharon Stone, is a good example, but that film failed to connect emotionally with the audience in its does-she-live-or-does-she-die narrative. In David Gale’s case, it isn’t just the man, but also the issue that’s at stake: Is the capital punishment system fair, and is there any value in the death penalty -- even if the condemned man is guilty?
First-time screenwriter Charles Randolph writes a plot full of twists that will always keep you guessing what’s going to happen next -- he develops several distinct layers of characters. There’s the good, like Gale and Constance. There’s the bad, like Berlin (Rhona Mitra), a student of Gale’s who begins his downward spiral by seducing him and then crying rape; the elusive, like Gale’s lawyer (Leon Rippy), and a mysterious man named Dusty (Matt Craven), whose purposes aren’t clear until the end of the movie; and the righteous, like Bitsey and her intern Zack (Gabriel Mann). All play a part in the puzzle that shows the many different views of capital punishment.
Director Parker (Angela’s Ashes and Evita) shows commitment to the film, pacing it to develop the suspense of the story of a condemned man’s life. With the help of editor Gerry Hambling, who also worked on Evita and Angela’s Ashes, he fluidly bridges the gap between past and present, perhaps unintentionally asserting that themes of life and death are unchanging. The wild, spinning cinematography of Michael Seresin (also Angela’s Ashes) showcases brief shots of words such as “desire,” “fantasy,” “condemned,” “lust,” “collapse,” and “suffocate,” all of which move the story along while coaxing the audience to place these words into the context of their own lives.
While some narrative hang-ups occur and some questions are left unanswered (such as the overall question why this might be happening, or why is Bitsey the chosen one to make history), it’s easy to excuse them for the sake of the whole picture. And the four days in which we follow Gale and Bitsey on their separate but connected journeys may feel drawn out with unnecessary establishing shots or dialogue. Technical accuracy suffers in spots as well -- since the film takes place in Texas, Southern accents are expected but left out.
However, The Life of David Gale is a worthwhile movie that raises a lively and entertaining debate over the always-pertinent issue of capital punishment. It is smart, mostly meticulous, and involving. Viewers who find too many movies falsely emotional will find with a sigh of relief and joy that this film is the opposite -- you will be emotionally involved.
-- Michael J. Eiff (eiff@email.arizona.edu)