Review of Dead Man Walking (1995) by Connor _ — 11 May 2011

Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn both give some of the best leading performances of the decade. Tim Robbins as a director and adapting screenwriting proves some talent, but nothing particularly special. The ever-controversial issue of the death penalty is revived here, though whether or not this is the film that started the fad is unclear.

Certainly this film influences the rest of the theme, most obvious being 'The Life of David Gale'. Strong supporting performances from the sympathetically grieving parents of Penn's victims, including Celia Weston and R.

Lee Ermey. Robbins knows exactly how to evolve a character, or at least he did for Penn. He starts out an unphased criminal who says he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But as Sarandon, an unrelentingly sweethearted nun, wrestles with his soul as he awaits execution, he opens up to her.

Robbins also skillfully portrays Sarandon's evolution as a death row spiritual councilor who tries to sympathize with both the perpetrator and the victims, getting tangled in controversies of ethics and Biblical morals in the process.

Classic story, although true, of redeeming faith. B+.