Review of The Life of David Gale (2003) by Biagiu R — 27 Aug 2010

The LIFE of David Gale is just that... his death sentence. Why critics panned this one I don't know.This movie starts off slow until Gale tells his story from death row. I recommend this to only the patient viewer who is willing to let the plot unfold as Gale tells it. It really grabbed me about a third of the way through. I actually gave up on this film early, then came back to it.

The movie is a flashback. A retelling of deathrow inmate David Gale, a professor at a Texas university. He lends himself a cause, the banishment of the death penalty. But you don't realize how committed he is to this until the very end of the story. The whole movie leads to a plot by devoted foes of the death penalty. I won't get into the details because it would take away from the bizzare ending. Let's just say that I was unprepared to see how far devoted people can be to a cause... so much so as to lead to their own capture and death.

If you can stay with this film, say 45-60 minutes into it.... then you will be hooked. The gal reporter has initially no belief that Gale is innocent, until she hears "the rest of the story" from Gale. If it weren't for the lightweight beginning, it could have had a higher rating.

You will be stunned by the ending... I was.