LIFE OF DAVID GALE, THE
Released: February 21, 2003
Take these other Kevin Spacey movies that use "twist" endings - "Se7en" or "The Usual Suspects". Those are examples of good uses of twist endings. Same goes for movies like "The Sixth Sense" or "The Others". Unfortunately for you, the movie fan, this movie has a trick ending that will leave you feeling cinematically raped. It betrays you in ways that only a lazy writer could dream up. The writer in question is newcomer Charles Randolph, a guy who manages to put his name on a motel used in the movie. That such a script would attract actors like Kevin Spacey, Laura Linney, Kate Winslet and a director as good as Alan Parker ("Angela's Ashes", "The Committments", "Mississippi Burning") - is quite disturbing. The plot goes as such: University of Texas professor Dr. David Gale (Spacey), an advocate for the abolishment of capital punishment, is falsely convicted of rape of a student and murder of another activist (Linney). He suddenly finds himself on death row. The film is told in flashbacks with a female reporter (Winslet) interviewing Gale. The clock is ticking, with Gale pleading to the Winslet reporter character to find evidence of his innocence. The build up of this thriller/death row drama is what ultimately kills (no pun intended) it. The so-called "clues" left all over the movie are too easy to put together, so I ignored them thinking there would be something a bit more solid as a pay off. But there wasn't. The ending was a real kick in the balls (or ball in my case) for me as a film I invested real money and over two hours running time in. If you aren't as movie-violated as I was then I guess you don't demand too much of your movies. Interestingly enough, George Clooney passed on the role that Spacey played, as did Nicolas Cage, though he DID stick around as a co-producer. I know Alan Parker will recover and blow us away with his next film but WHY did he even BOTHER with "The Life Of David Gale" in the first place?? And this comes from a big fan of the director and all the main players featured here... The 2 star Fedge rating goes strictly to the performances and portions of the film itself. Otherwise, save yourself the 131 minutes and watch something else, like "Dead Man Walking", a MUCH BETTER death row movie, one that HAS A POINT and doesn't treat its audience like morons.
131 Minutes
Universal