|
 |
| DIRECTED BY |
| Tim Robbins
|
| STARRING |
| Susan Sarandon |
| Sean Penn |
| Robert Prosky |
| Raymond J. Barry |
| R. Lee Ermey |
 |
Warning: Spoilers in Second Paragraph
The true/untrue flashback scenes unfortunately now play like your average television episode of �Crime Scene Investigation,� but, of course it is unfair to fault this film for that. However, I think the film perhaps would have been able to sport another level of excellence and a more intriguing effect had Robbins excluded those scenes altogether and not concerned himself at all with deceiving his audience. After all, it�s not the murder mystery surrounding �Dead Man Walking� that makes it an important film.
In a way Robbins does stay neutral, neither glorifying nor condemning the death penalty, but it�s Sean Penn�s harrowing performance that kind of sways the tide to the non-approval side. Penn - as the inarticulate, mislead, confused, amoral young man of the film�s title - bears the tainted soul his character before us in this film. His final proclamation from the upright injection table stands as one of the most heartrending scenes I�ve ever witnessed on film. Penn makes it difficult for anyone - probably even those who went into this film with an adamant approval of capital punishment - to not sympathize with his character, even after the revelation of what really happened.
| | |
