25 out of 25 people found the following review helpful:

A moving, sensitive and balanced film

Marianthi from London, 26th January, 2004

This film tackles one of the most difficult subjects: the death penalty. A guilty man on death row who doesn't do himself any favours, an old-fashioned Christian advisor and the parents of the victimes (two teenagers). Tim Robbins treats everyone with the respect they deserve and doesn't fall into the trap of preaching. His approach is as sensitive as anyone could wish for. Both his protagonists are marvellous, understated and deeply touching. A very important film that will bring tears to your eyes. Hopefully, it should also make you think long and hard. Fantastic.

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9 out of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Make your own decision

McClennan from , 22nd August, 2005

Immensely powerful and moving film of a true story about a man on death row, befriended by a nun, after he wrote to her to ask her to write to him. It would be easy to say this is a rollercoaster of emotion but it is so much more than that. The film isn't a technical workout and is driven by some story driving acting throughout. I expected this to be an anti-death penalty film with simplistic moralising in it, but it is much more than that. It presents the facts, as they happened in real life and I cannot think of a film about this contentioius issue that does so as good as this.

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9 out of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent Film

A Customer from Crowthorne, England, 25th May, 2005

Review Credit: IMDB.com This is a powerful, well acted film about the relationship between a tattooed, racist dirtbag (Sean Penn) on Death Row for a brutal rape/murder, and an attractive, modernist nun (Susan Sarandon) who becomes his spiritual adviser, and, in a sense, (not physically) his lover. While the movie pretends not to take sides, it is clearly evident that its message is that capital punishment is still qualitatively as brutal as criminal homicide. Although Sarandon appears to actively sympathize with the families of the victims, the 'redemption' of the killer is the most important thing to her ego and those of the other anti-death penalty activists working for Penn's reprieve from Death Row. However, his eventual confession and acceptance of the evil of his acts only comes about when his appeals are exhausted and death is imminent. Real crocodile tears, not for his victims but for his own sorry carcass. After he's strapped into the lethal injection gurney, the camera depicts him in an upright crucifixion position. It was enough to make me sick and recall the Talmudic saying that 'Kindness to the cruel is cruelty to the kind.' How dare they even imply some moral equivalence between the legal execution of a murderer who was given full due process rights (and then some) and a brutal murder?! This man's victims didn't get to say goodbye to their families. They weren't granted the comfort of pre-death spiritual epiphanies. Just so the reader knows where I'm coming from, this writer is opposed to the death penalty. BUT not for pseudohumanitarian reasons. As a former law enforcement official, I have seen too many panicked witnesses, sloppy and/or unethical police officers, braindead judges and juries, and even coolly lying criminal competitors to have enough faith in the ability of any justice system run by human beings to invariably protect the innocent. The finality of death precludes remedial action for frame-ups and mistakes. No doubt, the husband and wife team of Robbins/Sarandon intended this to be a powerful anti-death penalty statement. But Penn's realistic portrayal of the murderer and Sarandon's equally effective rendering of the truly arrogant egomaniacs that some professional 'humanitarians' really are, actually communicates a very different message to those whose thought processes go beyond slogans and preconceived notions. I came away from the movie regretting the fact that that human beings and their institutions were too flawed to permit the execution of scum like Penn's character.

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8 out of 8 people found the following review helpful:

great man walking

johnnyfraudster from greater london, 30th January, 2004

"Dead Man Walking" is a class act from start to finish. A slow burner to begin with but it creeps up on you unawares and suddenly you are gripped. The central performances by Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn are mesmerizing and faultless. The strength of Tim Robbins' direction is its abilty to convey a very strong anti-death penatly statement without being heavy handed. He allows the story to speak for itself and the excellent cinematography is always there to enhance rather than gloss up the plot. First rate. If only all Hollywood films were this intelligent and well made...

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Good but not Excellent

darkernite from , 10th March, 2010

Dead Man Walking takes a poignant look at the death penalty debate, however instead of addressing the usual for and against perspectives, this film looks at the emotional baggage that is created by the process to all those involved including refreshingly, the family of the victims. This is a film that is mostly driven by two truly outstanding lead performances from Sean Penn who plays a death row inmate, days away from death, and Susan Sarandon as a nun who seeks to support Penn is his final days. However this is where the films strengths end, although this is not a terrible thing as these are incredibly strong points. What stops this from being a remarkable movie is its lack of visual flare and at times an exceptionally slow pace. These two gripes must both fall a Tim Robbins door who may wish to consider staying in front of the lens rather than behind it.

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"An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind." - Mahatma Gandhi

danieljparsons from , 2nd January, 2010

For me, Dead Man Walking is the most compelling and convincing film I've seen against the death penalty. It is also incredibly fair, balanced and unbiased, continually flashing back to the horrific crimes committed, and showing the points of view from the victims' families. In fact, every possible point of view is shown, it never panders to one argument, it never explicitly says that the death penalty is wrong, and it won't necessarily change someone's beliefs. The later The Life of David Gale worked as a thriller but it was anti-intellectual in tone despite some strong writing and good performances. This film by contrast doesn't get bogged down in snappy one liners or statistics, and instead with conviction and simplicity tells one story. Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn are both magnificent, as are the supporting cast (watch out for early performances from Jack Black and Peter Sarsgaard). A masterpiece.

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Really enjoyed it!

A Customer from Ascot, 9th April, 2009

I thought the film was great.It was really well acted by Sean Pean. He was brilliant asusal and had me totally in the film with him.

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Dead Man Walking

Buck1 from , 1st April, 2009

Powerful film. Excellent acting S Sarandon

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