Customer Reviews

Dead Man Walking

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

"Sister, I won't ask for forgiveness; my sins are all I have," sings Bruce Springsteen in this movie's title song while the end credits roll over the screen - giving voice once more to Matthew Poncelet and the men portrayed in Sister Helen Prejean's nonfiction account on which this movie is based; that angry "white trash," those men who are "God's mistake," as one victim's father says, inconsolable over the loss of his daughter; those men locked up in high security prisons for unspeakable crimes which many of them claim they didn't commit. And Matt Poncelet (Sean Penn) is just such a guy; locked in bravado and denial, he proclaims his innocence and would rather take a lie detector test on the day of his execution "so my momma knows I didn't do this" than own up to his responsibility.

With Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon), we first learn about the crime which landed Poncelet on death row - the rape-murder of a couple on lovers' lane - from the account she receives when she starts writing to him and eventually agrees to visit him in prison. It is, as she will soon learn, a story that anti-death penalty advocates are all too familiar with; a story of unequal access to lawyers and of two defendants, each blaming all guilt for their crime exclusively on the other, regardless what truly happened. And as long as she is assured that even if Poncelet would have a new trial he wouldn't go free (as an accomplice, under Louisiana state law he would receive a lifetime prison sentence), Sister Helen is willing to help him find a lawyer and, when the date for his execution is set, try to obtain a reprieve.

But it does not end there, as she soon finds out; and one of this movie's greatest strengths is the way in which it portrays all sides of the moral issues involved in the death penalty. There are the victims' families, a stunning 70% of which break up after the murder of a child, and who are forever stuck with the unloving last words spoken to their loved ones and the memory of all the little homely details reminding them of their loss. There are the prison guards and nurses, trying to see executions as "part of their job" - with varying success. There are the politicians, barking slogans on TV; promising to "get tough on sentencing, get tough on lenient parole boards, get tough on judges who pass light sentences." There are the convicts' families, marginalized as a result of their brothers' and sons' acts, particularly if they refuse to condemn them publicly. ("Now I'm famous," Poncelet's mother comments bitterly on the dubious celebrity status she has attained as a result of a TV show about Matt. "A regular Ma Barker!") And there is the death penalty itself, shown in all its chilling, graphic, clinical detail, here in its allegedly most humane form: lethal injections, which tranquilize the muscles while the poison reaches the convict's lungs and heart - "his face goes to sleep while his inside organs are going through Armageddon," Poncelet's attorney says at his pardon board hearing. "It was important to us to show all sides of the issue," explains director Tim Robbins on the DVD's commentary track, "not to be satisfied with soundbites, and to present the reality ... Ultimately, the question is not who deserves to die, but who has the right to kill."

At the heart of the story are two radically different individuals: Sister Helen, who has grown up in an affluent, loving family; and Matthew Poncelet, the convicted killer. And their portrayal is this movie's other great strength: without either of them, this film would not have been half as compelling. Both Sarandon and Penn deliver Academy Award-worthy performances. (Sarandon did win her long overdue Oscar, Penn lost to Nicolas Cage for "Leaving Las Vegas" - this would have been an occasion where I would have favored a split award.) Gradually, very gradually we see them get to know each other; and as they do, the visual layers separating them in the prison visiting room are peeled away. Yet, even after he has learned to accept Sister Helen as a human being (not without attempting to come on to her as if she were not a nun - director Tim Robbins's way of dispelling the notion that they might fall in love, as is so often the case in the more cliched versions of this type of story), Poncelet insists that his participation was limited to holding one of the victims down, but that it was his accomplice who raped and killed them both. And even days before his execution, he is still looking for "loopholes" in the bible, as Sister Helen admonishes him, seeing redemption as a free ticket into heaven instead of a means of owning up to his responsibility. ("I like that," he comments when she quotes Jesus's "the truth shall make you free." "So I pass that lie detector test, I'm home free.") Only in his final hour, he slowly, gradually gives up the protective layers of his bravado and lays bare his raw nerve and innermost anguish. And while he speaks, finally, in a complete flashback, we, the viewers, see what really happened that dark and lonely night in the woods, and what all the previous partial flashbacks have not revealed.

"It is easy to kill a monster, but hard to kill a human being," Poncelet's attorney once explains; and Tim Robbins echoes that sentiment on the commentary track. Yet, this movie is not about romanticizing a brutal killer, any more than it is about demonizing his victims. It is, first and foremost, an attempt to bring a complete perspective to one of contemporary America's most pressing problems, and to find a way past sorrow and hate and move towards the future. And even if you're still for the death penalty after having watched it - don't claim ignorance as to what is involved.

Also recommended:
Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account Of The Death Penalty In The United States
Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make it Right
Monster (Special Edition)
Mystic River (Three-Disc Collector's Edition)
Dead Man Walking

Table all pre-conceived notions of whether Capital Punishment is wrong or right. Set aside your personal opinions on how society views convicted killers. DEAD MAN WALKING examines all sides of the coin, from the eyes of the victims, their families, the legal system, religious counselors and finally the convict himself.

Sean Penn is almost scary in his portrayal of Matthew Poncellet. With convincing facial expressions, voice and demeanor, Penn nails every scathing, miserable characteristic of a "white trash" criminal with no remorse for his chosen way of life and his lack of respect for everything and everyone in his world. By the film's end, your heart can't help but bleed for him in is agony, but what a pity it took the tragedy of murder to bring him to his knees.

Susan Sarandon perfectly portrays a kind and gentle Sr. Helen Prejean (who makes a cameo appearance in the film at a candlelight demonstration outside the prison).

WARNING: This movie is very painful to watch, and certain scenes of violence, aside from the final execution by lethal injection, may disturb the faint-hearted.

Both Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon give the performance of their lives. This is such an emotional film and the story behind it is amazing. Tim Robbins' direction is spot on. Was thoroughly entranced from beginning to end. Although the story deals with death row and the death penalty, both highly explosive subjects, I was able to detach myself because of the actors' performances. Strongly recommended.

This movie wrecked me.

Seriously, it tore out my heart and stomped on it. `Dead Man Walking' is one of those movies that ravages an individual because it leaves bias at the door and forces you to witness two sides of a devastating story. I feel about this film as I do about `4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days' for both films take a situation that one would have a firm opinion about and causes you to seriously doubt yourself. With `4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days' it was abortion, and while I am wholeheartedly against the act it forced me to understand why some would be for it, and it brought me a to a dark and lonely place I never want to revisit. `Dead Man Walking' is very similar but maybe even with a more savage result. This film takes on the subject of the death penalty and asks us to contemplate whether or not it is humane. Instead of forcing us a preordained answer, `Dead Man Walking' allows the audience to see both sides of the situation and decide for themselves what they think is just and fair.

`Dead Man Walking' took everything I believed in and destroyed it.

When `4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days' was through I was weak emotionally, but I still stood firm to my beliefs on the subject. When I was through with `Dead Man Walking' I had no idea what I believed anymore because I found myself trying to justify each stance on the matter. I still am trying to grapple with my feelings.

`Dead Man Walking' (a slang term used in reference to a death row inmate in route to the death chamber) focuses on Matthew Poncelet, a convicted murderer trying to get his death sentenced exchanged for a life sentence. He writes to Sister Helen Prejean for her help in the process, and when his appeal is denied he asks her to be his spiritual adviser during the week leading up to his execution. She agrees, despite the pressure she has from the community and the victims families to separate herself from this man. The film takes us into the relationship between these two people and slowly and subtly lets us inside their minds. Matthew swears he was nothing more than a witness to the horrific events that placed him on death row yet Sister Prejean is trying to help him take responsibility for his actions so as to gain Christ's forgiveness.

What could have proved itself nothing more than a sappy preachy film about inhumane/humane (depending on your stance) acts of justice becomes so much more thanks to the brilliant performances by the entire cast, the two leads in particular. Susan Sarandon is one of our greatest working actresses, and she always succeeds in impressing me, but this is probably her finest performance (and Oscar agreed). Not only that, but this may very well be one of the finest performances by any actress, ever. As Sister Helen Prejean she truly grabs hold of this woman's soul, her inner demons and her beauty within. She is so raw, so human and real that one can't help but fall into her plight and stand beside her strength. Her final scenes with Penn devastate me and caused me to burst into tears. Those scenes were of course only strengthened by the power that is Sean Penn. As Matthew Poncelet, Penn creates a monster that is so real and so human that we can't help by sympathize with him. It was about half way through the film that it hit me, what Penn was successfully doing. He was creating a man that I could understand. We think about the act and the crime and the horror behind it all and we are quick to hate and cry out for justice, but quite like `A Clockwork Orange', `Dead Man Walking' asks the question if we have the right, as humans, to decide just what that justice should entail.

The final moments of `Dead Man Walking' hit me like a freight train. Coupling the heartbreaking final moments of Poncelet's life with flashbacks of his horrendous crime leaves the viewer in distress and torn between two wide ranges of thinking. This was probably the smartest direction Tim Robbins could have gone for it accomplishes what he set out to do, create a film without bias that addresses both side of the coin. Sure, the harrowing performances by R. Lee Ermey, Celia Weston and Robert Prosky as the parents of Poncelet's victims help give us a perspective into their feelings on the matter, but it is the ending that really twists the knife. By feeding us the initial crime and the inevitable justice at the same time we are flooded with emotions as we cringe at the sight of Poncelet taking innocent lives in such a brutal fashion and then shiver in misery as we watch his life taken from him in what is considered a `humane' fashion. The ending result is one of pain and emotional exhaustion.

I cannot say that I would not want this same form of justice done if anyone hurt my daughter. Most likely I would be campaigning for a more drastic and harsh form of torment to be done that individual. I think that is why this film haunts me so much, because I am a father. As I watch this movie and begin to sympathize with this man I feel guilty because I would never want someone to sympathize with a man that hurt my own daughter. Having said that I wholeheartedly agree with Penn's final devastating words, that killing is wrong no matter who is doing it. This rift in my own feelings may very well be the reason I consider this to be one of the finest films ever made, for it addresses those same contradictions with intelligence and honesty.

DEAD MAN WALKING is one of the most powerful films I have seen in a long time. In terms of pure "guts," this film takes the cake. Watching it just makes me wonder why Tim Robbins doesn't step up to the director's plate more often. This film is a testament to good filmmaking: great technique, beautiful shots, outstanding performances, and the avoidance of cliché. DEAD MAN WALKING, as its name suggests, tells the moving story of Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon), a nun who winds up responding to an inmate's (Sean Penn) cry for help and soon finds herself in over her head. What follows is an emotional journey: an exploration of the death penalty that refuses (at every turn) to drop into ideology and formula.

And let me tell you why. Most films that deal with the philosophy behind the death penalty tend to "choose sides." On the one hand, the state is depicted as a fickle body that mercilessly puts innocent men to die, while the victim's families stand around and revel in watching the convicted man fry. DEAD MAN WALKING has its share of politics and angry victims, but the victims are fleshed out, given back story, and deliver a deep emotional impact on the film. On the other hand, the death penalty can be handled by as a necessary arm of justice, allowing us all to breathe easy at night knowing that one more killer is off the streets. But DEAD MAN WALKING refuses to take up this line either. Instead, the film becomes a well-balanced exploration of the issues surrounding crime and punishment. In the end, the film evolves into an exploration of the possibility of redemption, quite apart from any issues concerning justice.

Not enough can be said about Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Their performances are simply stunning. Sarandon plays a real nun, rather than the cardboard figure portraits of the clergy I am used to seeing in a film. Her performance breathes and her journey allows the audience to follow her path, providing us with an emotional trajectory. Sean Penn, once again, proves that he is pretty much the best actor working right now. His performance is incredible. As in most of his recent roles, you forget you're watching Penn: the character comes through. In particular, the last twenty minutes of the film are incredibly heart-wrenching. You just have to see the film to understand.

DEAD MAN WALKING is a fine film and one that I don't hesitate to give five stars. I will soon be adding it to my DVD collection. I hope you will be too.

Countries, people and ideologies world over have forever debated upon the justifiability of capital punishment. Many arguments and counterarguments later an average person still forms his impression based upon some or the other personal experience. Someone who has no strong religious belief or who has not suffered -directly or indirectly- from any criminal act would arguably find herself in a dilemma as to which side to take.

`Dead Man Walking' gives the audience an unbiased insight into the social issue of capital punishment. A subtly crafted script, brilliant performances by Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon and a delicate portrayal of events that lead to the execution of Sean Penn - for a brutal double crime of raping and killing - and most compellingly, the act of execution itself - gives the audience a first-hand exposure to the trauma experienced by those involved.

It is indeed a very fine line. To kill or not to kill - that is the question. Why and who kills - is not the echoing thought you are left with. Instead you are haunted by the question - is it right to end a life regardless of who, when, why, how? Sean Penn's last words suggest otherwise. He has lived in a state of denial while not confessing, and probably in his self-delusion convincing himself that he too was a victim of a bigger act of serendipity. Eventually, he breaks down in an uneventful moment and accepts his crime before Susan Sarandon - the nun who has done everything she could to give him a fair chance. He subsequently apologizes to the parents of the victims just before his execution. In an enthralling climatic episode, the scenes of the brutal and shameless crime are brilliantly juxtaposed to the sophisticated act of execution. The breathtaking cathartic moments of this episode leave the audience with the big question - is taking a life right? Regardless of who does it.

A must watch movie that leaves us with an issue to ponder over.

Susan Sarandon plays Sister Helen Prejean, a nun who has been contacted, through letters, by Matthew Poncelet, a convicted killer on death row, played eerily well by Sean Penn. This movie follows their relationship as they grow closer and closer to eachother until it can go no further. Prejean, a loving, empathetic, and helpful woman is inspiring and amazing. She battles her own personal struggles alone so as to continue helping Poncelet as much as she possibly can. Poncelet is, at first, a harsh living example of brutality, mistakes, and most of all, regret and redemption. Never swallowing his pride, he continually tries to convince those around him that he is innocent, he never killed anyone, and that although he was wrongly convicted, he is not afraid to die, and realizes there are no alternatives. Just when you think he is as abrasive as he can get, there are some rapid twists in his opinions and actions, and finally, a tear is shed for a man who made a hellacious mistake, a man who feels sorrow for someone other than himself for once, and a man who finally opens up and lets someone in rather than playing the role of a hardened inmate. The acting is phenomenal (in both lead and supporting roles as well; keep an eye out for a then-nobody Jack Black as Poncelet's brother), the script is impressively simple, yet complex, and this movie is brilliant. A bit slow moving at times, it's all worth it in the end. Definitely a movie to be watched with a full box of tissue.. very, very well done.

Although fundamentally well-performed by Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, this film isn't nearly as powerful as it is purported to be. It works, overall, and there are some strong moments, but it tries a little too hard to be thought-provoking and emotionally wrenching. I felt like things could've been developed a bit more, and a few things could've been toned down (the execution scene is a bit over-the-top, dramatically speaking.) I don't know. Far from a bad film, but by no means a masterpiece.

Prior to viewing this film, I was a staunch supporter of the death penalty. I truly believed that if someone committed such a heinous crime as taking the life of another person, then they deserved to die.

What "Dead Man Walking" did for me was never challenge that belief, or try to dissuade me through debate. What it did was present one of the most well-rounded, emotional films that asked the questions I never asked myself when considering this punishment.

I was very leary of seeing this film because I didn't want to sit through two hours of being preached at by a one-sided liberal point of view. What ended up happening was because Sister Helen Prejean struggled with everything herself, I began to struggle too. Because she had the courage to deal both with this hideous, racist criminal and the victims understandable embittered families, I began to deal with them too. After watching this film, I began to doubt my own stance, finally recognizing that death for death is no just punishment.

That's not to say you will reach such a conclusion. The movie doesn't suggest anything of the sort. What the movie does is present to us the confusing array of pieces, and we, as individuals, and as a society, need to construct the puzzle as we see. But we must not hide from the hard facts of executions, we must not anesthesize ourselves to the horror of what we inflict on these prisoners. The movies suggests that we see the entire picture before making our own judgment calls.

The performances of Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn are some of the best I've seen in any film recently. Both deserved all the accolades, as well as Tim Robibns for crafting such a picture. For a two hour movie to explore such complicated ideas as death and faith is quite an amazing feat.

"Dead Man Walking" tells the true story of one Sister Helen Prejean, a uniquely compassionate nun who goes on an emotionally taxing journey with a man who, after being on Death Row for six years, is scheduled to die within a week of their first meeting. What she will encounter on this journey will be an experience unlike anything she has ever encountered, as she must try to bring him to the realization that he must atone for his crimes in order to receive God's salvation.

This is, without a doubt, one of the best films of 1995, as well as any year. The film has courage and strength, as well as portraying both of these qualities in its characters, who are given room and time to develop the story on their own terms. It inspires feelings about so many different issues on many complex levels, while never really taking a side on any of these issues. The movie is what you make it out to be: is he a guilty man? Does he only want redemption because of his impending death? Or has he truly changed?

The movie takes its time in allowing us to decide this, beginning with Sister Helen's life among the people she teaches in a black neighborhood, where she lives. From the beginning, we know that she is not a prejudice person, nor does she allow her religious beliefs to get in the way of helping people, which is evident in her action of responding to a letter from a Death Row convict named Matthew Poncelet, whose crimes include rape and murder. As she begins having meetings with him, she only feels that she is doing what her calling requires: helping those who would seek salvation in their quest to find it.

She gets more than she bargained for by meeting Poncelet, whose mustache and goatee, sleek hair and tattoos, and objective language practically scream the word "criminal." During their first meetings, the audience will practically feel the tension between the two characters, especially as Poncelet begins using his foul terms in the presence of Prejean, who never flinches but is noticeably uncomfortable with his language. But she presses on, first diving into his political views, but then realizing that in order for her to be able to get through this without falling apart, she will need to focus on getting him to confess his part in the crime and take responsibility for his sins.

This is done with some of the most powerful acting performances I've ever seen in a film. Susan Sarandon is totally convincing as Sister Helen, who is portrayed as timid on the outside but posesses a strong will and determination to accomplish what she has sought out to do. Her kind nature and caring heart are the perfect contrast for Sean Penn, who brings a terrific balance of contempt and sorrow to the character of Poncelet. This is one of his best performances ever, portraying the convict as cold and heartless in the face of his crimes, but once alone with Sister Helen, he has no where to hide.

The movie also dives into an even more emotional turmoil: the impact that a murder has on the families of the victims and the criminals. Sister Helen visits both the family of Poncelet, and the families of the murder victims, all of whom feel intense emotion and sadness over the crimes. Poncelet's mother feels a strong sense of sadness over the situation her son has gotten himself into, blaming it on the influence his older friend had on him. The parents of the murder victims, who are at first contemptuous of Sister Helen, tell their side of the story in such a way that Sister Helen, as well as the audience, becomes torn not over who to believe, but who to feel more sympathy for. It becomes a tug-of-war of sorts, where in one instance we feel remorse for one side, then the other, but very rarely both. It focuses so much on one point at a time that we forget about everything else but the conversation going on at present.

The movie also has a lot to say about how we as a society act in terms of different beliefs about capital punishment. The entire plot of the movie centers around the countdown to Poncelet's death, with the victims' parents and their supporters crying out for the death penalty, while Sister Helen and Poncelet's lawyer try desperately to stop it from happening in hopes that she may be able to turn his life around. I felt such a sense of mortal disgust at the final sequences of the film, during the scene of the execution, in which the victims' parents and others gather to converse before watching Poncelet's execution. The movie builds up so emotion before this final scene that one cannot help but feel some contempt for those who would even wish to see such an event take place. However you may take it, the issues the movie touches will inspire some sort of feeling inside, and you cannot help but look at what you feel for the issues at hand.

A very simple story with complex emotions and compelling characters, "Dead Man Walking" is a film that will touch the hearts of all who see it, religious and non-religious alike. The story never stutters in its portrayal of a hardened man's journey down the path of redemption, and the one woman who stood by his side through it all. This is as good as movies get, and not much better than this, either.