Film Review: the Life of David Gale

With a director whose credits include Mississippi Burning and Bugsy Malone to Angela’s Ashes and Evita you could be forgiven for viewing Alan Parker’s The Life of David Gale solely out of cinematic curiosity. Accompany the two-time Academy Award nominee with a screenwriter showcasing his big screen debut and you have instant film attraction. For Parker to work side-by-side with a film newcomer must surely mean a masterpiece awaits us. The Life of David Gale may not be a masterpiece, but with stand out performances it is worth your due care and attention. With a storyline that remains strong throughout, alongside praise out loud acting, the crime drama has compelling writing with tight direction.

Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet spark off one another with each holding their own the way all to the end. Kudos to Spacey who is engaging and understated as the University Professor campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty who ends up awaiting lethal injection on death row himself. Winslet is Bitsey Bloom, the controversial New York journalist who Spacey’s character requests to tell his story on the final three days of life. It is easy to see why Spacey has two Oscars to his name; it is not so easy to understand why thus far Winslet has none. The role of Bitsey Bloom is by no means Oscar-worthy with Winslet avoiding giving the filmgoer her best big screen outing, but we take with us into the cinema the knowledge that she is an extremely gifted actress. The Life of David Gale may present Winslet with an American accent perhaps a little too American, but it is Kate Winslet after all – and there is believability to her part that remains steady from start to finish. Towards the end is when she excells. However, both Spacey and Winslet are placed aside at times to make room for a performance from Laura Linney that is as gentle and captivating as the day is long. Linney, herself a three-time Oscar nominee, is excellent as Constance Harraway, the colleague and friend of Spacey’s Gale whose part in his death sentence is jaw dropping. Political messages (perhaps at times too obvious to be called undertones) are evident throughout – yet I did not leave the cinema with the taste of Anti-establishment in my mouth. Expect to be left questioning whether the film is in fact pro or anti death penalty – I believe the film exists to plant the very seed of doubt in the viewer. I believe that by the time you leave the cinema you will be questioning both the pros and cons to such a penalty the whole drive home.

The Life of David Gale is brilliantly acted with thanks to a compelling script but more so the casting of three excellent actors. Charles Randolph desired Nicole Kidman for the part of Bloom (whom he would later write the lead female role in The Interpreter for) with Parker first offering Nicholas Cage and George Clooney the role of Gale, both of whom passed. However, I do not believe that the viewer is deprived in any way by the second choice casting. Spacey, Winslet and Linney each bring their own certain something to the roles that make them believable and attractive. The final sets of twists are designed to keep you on your seat, the edge in this case, and they deliver right up until the credits roll. With the tagline – ‘The crime is clear. The truth is not’ perfectly worded for this drama, expect your answers by the end. If you are as drawn in to the storyline as I was, then boy will you be satisfied when the final twists roll out.