The Life of David Gale (Widescreen Edition)
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Actor: Constance Jones, Kate Winslet, Kevin Spacey, Laura Linney, Vernon GroteDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 130 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-07-22
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of The Life of David Gale (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: Who likes being manipulated
Summary: 4 Stars
You may think this film is a thriller about the death penalty, but it is not. It looks like it, true, but the end reveals it is something completely different. It is about the way the media can be manipulated in any direction, provided you are intelligent. Once a brilliant university professor was confronted in a TV debate to the governor of Texas about the death penalty. The governor asked him to give the name of one executed person that was innocent and could be proved so. The professor could not answer such a question for the simple reason that there is no post mortem investigation in the case of an execution, except... And the professor started, with his main assistant in his fight against the death penalty, to think of how to prove that point. In the mean time he is tricked by some dumb girl student into doing exactly what he should never have done: have sex with her. She sue him for rape, even if later she will drop the charge. The damage is done. He is kicked out of academia. His wife takes his son away and gets a divorce. She sells the house. He cannot even get a job as the manager of a technical store. He is reduced to nothing, to being a rapist forever. But he does not want to move. His main assistant in his fight is going to die of leukemia. When he learns that, the plan to trap the governor germinates in their minds and they put it through. He is going to be accused of the murder of his assistant though it is not a murder. The evidence it is not is a tape, the recording of what really happened. But it will come in three pieces. The man will be sentenced to death. Three days before his execution he asks a famous journalist from New York to come and take the first and last interview he is going to give her in six hours spread out over the three days before his execution. The first excerpt of the tape we have mentioned will turn up in the journalist's motel room on the second day, before execution, too short and a copy. Worthless. Then after some adventure the journalist manages to recuperate what she thinks is the whole tape that proves what she was thinking, after some personal experimentation, is right: the woman killed herself, but who worked the camera? A man that is seen at the end of the tape, a man the journalist has seen here and there and in whose shack she has found the tape. But that too is too short though not worthless. It creates havoc and it proves an innocent man can be sentenced to death. During that time the $500,000 for the interview travel to Mexico and the ex-wife for the son. The father had been vindicated in the mean time. But the journalist finally receives the last excerpt of the tape, the end of the suicidal demonstrative s?ance and there the professor is shown coming at this very moment, just after the death of the woman, just as if he had been behind the camera all the time and he turns that camera off, after checking the woman is dead. The media had been manipulated about the guilt of the man and about the fairness and justice of the death penalty, then about the man's innocence and the suicide of the woman, and yet the truth was that the death had been planned in such a way that the execution would demonstrate how an innocent person can be sentenced to death. Manipulation all along by a woman who wanted to make her natural death useful for the cause she advocated and by a man who did not have the courage to move on and start a new life after having been destroyed by an unscrupulous student and by his own dumbness: students are out of reach as long as they are within grading distance. He preferred to make his death (which becomes a very special suicide) useful for the cause he advocated and for his own son. But the film is short because two men helped the woman and staged her death and the man lied all along the way of his confession and ordeal. The media are so na?ve that they believe anything provided it smells slightly sulfurous or sulfuric.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines, CEGID
DVD Review: Great, great movie with stellar performances by Winslet, Linney and Spacey
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't see how some reviewers missed the subplots or thought there were too many. I guess they must suffer from ADD. I got the whole story the first time around, and have watched it many more times for the great dramatic and emotional impact it takes the viewer through. I also think a lot of reviewers forget to watch the acting, besides just the story line. In this I feel that Kate Winslet delivered an absolutely magnificent, emotional and gut-wrenching performance; as did Laura Linney and of course, Kevin Spacey.
Too many people have preconceived notions about a movie before it even begins to tell the story, and end up convincing themselves that a movie is bad in comparison to this or that movie; which is a waste of time and thought (unless it's an intentional wanna-be type movie). Gosh, just look and listen. Try to be impartial, even though there may be a message; albeit forced-fed at times to the viewer (Libs and Cons take note).
The more I see great acting (like that of the principals in this movie), the more I appreciate how much work actors put into their characters and how hard it is to "stay in character" as the filming goes on for weeks or months. It's really easy to act badly, but difficult to act convincingly. Can't say enough about the first-rate jobs by the entire cast of this movie. Bravo!
DVD Review: This was good for the suspense and acting
Summary: 4 Stars
Kevin Spacey does a great job with his character acting.
There was enough suspense in the movie to keep me interested for the whole thing-- and enough to make the movie worth watching twice to see what was missed the first time around.
It is a bit hard to believe that someone would allow himself to be executed just to make a point about the death penalty. It is even harder that to imagine that he would fake a rape just to put himself in jail as a way to make him easier to execute.
The parts of the plot were MOSTLY resolved at the end, but it is still not clear in what way was the "student who would do anything" tied to the whole plot. A bit of clarification would not have taken that much extra time. And it is on this account that the movie loses one star.
DVD Review: Phenomenal Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This was truly and exceptional movie. It's really beyond my understanding why it didn't hit the silver screen.
There will always be debates on the topic of capital punishment, and death penalties. This movie did a remarkable job protesting against capital punishment.
After all the debates on national television, and protesting out on the streets, David Gayle realized if you don't stand for something, you will definitely fall for anything. After his voice continued to be ignored, he allowed his actions to speak for his beliefs.
This is differently a "must see" film!
DVD Review: Although Alan Parker did a fine job,,,
Summary: 5 Stars
... (as usual), I haven't yet seen a movie about death penalty which have tackled the real issues : the bible inspiration being the most ludicrous (an eye for an eye, etc...), why not think about the best thing coming out from death penalty, which is NO ONE EXECUTED HAS EVER BEEN A REPEAT OFFENDER. Another GOOD REASON for death penalty is that (almost) no one ever complained about the way dogs with rabies are dealt with, so why insist on considering mad dogs standing on their hind legs are human : just remember what Konrad Lorenz said 'The missing link between ape and man is US', so, those who don't want to behave as human beings should not be regarded as such, and therefore should not benefit of any human status
. The second best thing being that anyone executed is not as much as a burden for the taxpayers as those who get board and food for 5/10/15/....years. For those who lament over the innocent victims of a mistrial they should be aware that, with over 7 billions beings plaguing the planet, those few will never be enough to ease the problems created by overpopulation (and. if they have any question about me, they should know I would be happy to be one of those judicial errors, so I wouldn't have to bear any more with their self-righteousness stupidity - sorry for the redundancy).
Description of The Life of David Gale (Widescreen Edition)
Suspenseful journey into deadly conspiracy & murderous deception begins when a respected professor who may or may not be guilty is charged with a brutal crime. The final twist will blow you away. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 12/28/2004 Starring: Kevin Spacey Laura Linney Run time: 131 minutes Rating: R Director: Alan ParkerKevin Spacey (American Beauty) plays David Gale, a brilliant but hard-drinking anti-death penalty crusader on death row for a rape and murder that he claims he didn't commit. The victim of the crime is Gale's close friend and anti-death penalty colleague (Laura Linney, You Can Count On Me), so Gale argues that he's been set up to discredit the cause. Committed journalist Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet, Titanic) takes it upon herself to figure the whole thing out--and so we follow her through a ridiculous plot full of supposedly shocking twists that are telegraphed far in advance and make very little sense when they arrive. The overwritten script tries to cover too many hot-button issues and gives Spacey way too many showy scenes where he gets to be passionate and caring, which is creepier than his psychopath roles in The Usual Suspects and Seven. --Bret Fetzer
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