The Life of David Gale

The Life of David Gale is a film that tells the story of a man who is an opposer of capital punishment but accused of the murder of a fellow activist and is in death row. Now that is a plot that Charles Randolph has come up with to Alan Parker, the British filmmaker.

The protagonist happens to be Kevin Spacey who plays the character of David Gale with such ease. It is not just Kevin but everyone in the cast does their part quite well in the film. Laura Linney and Kate Winslet who does not hold as much screen time as Kevin, still manages to have some powerful roles to play. The film has been shot in Texas, and it is set in Texas, with frames that are wonderful. The editing and the music also have got its share of style in the narration.

The writing does have some trouble. There are certain elements that look a bit too old for the whole film. I'm referring to a cowboy who would be following the journalist and her intern. The narrative of the film also does not offer much surprises though the writing tries its best to be smart. There definitely is a mystery in the film as to what happened. And the way it comes up has been somewhat well made, but certain things go a bit too overboard.

Even as I found the film well made and an interesting one time watch, I happened to find and read about the criticism that the film faced upon its release. Roger Ebert, one of the popular film critics had given his lowest rating of zero stars to the film. Roger disapproved of the film completely as he found the plot offensive!

Yes, the film may be silly at parts, and it does try to be smart when it actually isn't but it is a film that worked for me. But it could have been better.

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