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Reviews Counted:152
Fresh:30
Rotten:122
Average Rating:4.3/10
Consensus: Instead of offering a convincing argument against the death penalty, this implausible, convoluted thriller pounds the viewer over the head with its message.
Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: 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... [More]
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Laura Linney, Kate Winslet, Gabriel Mann
Director: Alan Parker
A snide, juvenile, plot-twisting story about capital punishment that should provoke activists truly concerned about the death penalty to rage, and guilty-pleasure seekers to lament that the movie fails even as decent trash.
A thought-provoking and gripping portrait of two burnt-out zealots who are willing to do anything to stop the juggernaut of executions in America.
...ludicrous and less-than-suspenseful.
The two words that kept springing into my mind were not 'smart movie' but 'utter crap'
Provided you're still awake, you should have the whole thing figured out way before Bitsey does.
The anti-death penalty nature of the film should be lauded but it lacks the impact because of the muddled direction of the story.
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Top CriticDeserves the chair for its brutal assault on subtlety.
The very things that give the picture its entertainment value -- the suspenseful contrivances of the story -- are precisely what undermine its ostensible message.
After two hours of bludgeoning by Parker's moralistic mallet, even those who came in sympathetic to his views may leave with second thoughts.
The Life of David Gale is gripping and has a good logical payoff. Director Alan Parker has done better but he could’ve done a lot worse here.
The Life of David Gale is the world's first movie with a penalty phase.
It's a bad sign when the supposedly ace investigative reporter is several steps behind the audience in figuring out the plot.
An Alan Parker potboiler in the tradition of his Angela's Ashes and Come See the Paradise -- more concerned with quickening our pulses than broadening our minds.
I am sure the filmmakers believe their film is against the death penalty. I believe it supports it and hopes to discredit the opponents of the penalty as unprincipled fraudsters.
Top CriticDoes Kevin Spacey have a weird secret? Um, yeah, as always. But this death-penalty fable is so overwrought, no one will care.
Kevin Spacey and Laura Linney turn in fine performances.
The film is a polemic against the death penalty, which may be a reasonable position, but played out as a mystery/thriller it's silly, and often embarrassing.
Not a great film, and it's doubtful its 'surprise' endings will surprise many people, but it manages to be both smoothly entertaining and engaging while carrying a strong point of view.
It's difficult to care about Spacey's plight, mainly because his drunk, preachy character is so unlikable.
Top Critic
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