Review of Dead Man Walking (1995) by Ivan D — 08 Mar 2009

Very, very underrated piece of cinema with two great artists (that would be Sarandon and Penn) together in one of their best performances in their respective careers. There is not much of a story to bother in this film, but instead we are pulled by an unseemingly invisible force from the film to let us focus on the two main protagonists and their awkward relationship.

Sean Penn has slowly became one of my favorite actors, because he proved us audiences that he can completely vanish into a specific role, be it a retarded man, a man with a bum ticker, or a gay rights activist, and his performance here is certainly not an exception.

While Susan Sarandon, who won an Oscar for his performance in this picture, started up slow early in this film, but as it progresses, she gave stunning, unflinching scenes after another, making it almost unbearable even for us audiences to watch her flawless outflow of emotions throughout the duration of this amazing film.

The climactic scene is very depressing, frightening, but poetic in a way, combined with the beautiful background music. Tim Robbins did a great job as a director, and its undeniable he will get an Oscar nod for his work.

"Dead Man Walking" is an underrated gem, and a proof that performances is what films is all bout, 2nd to the story, of course.