Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3226 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-10-06
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 130 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Kevin Spacey (American Beauty) plays David Gale, a brilliant but hard-drinking anti-death penalty crusader on death row for a rape and murder that he claims he didn't commit. The victim of the crime is Gale's close friend and anti-death penalty colleague (Laura Linney, You Can Count On Me), so Gale argues that he's been set up to discredit the cause. Committed journalist Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet, Titanic) takes it upon herself to figure the whole thing out--and so we follow her through a ridiculous plot full of supposedly shocking twists that are telegraphed far in advance and make very little sense when they arrive. The overwritten script tries to cover too many hot-button issues and gives Spacey way too many showy scenes where he gets to be passionate and caring, which is creepier than his psychopath roles in The Usual Suspects and Seven. --Bret Fetzer

Special Features

• Feature commentary with Director Alan Parker
  
• Deleted scenes with optional Alan Parker
  
• Making of 'The Life of David Gale'
  
• Music of 'The Life of David Gale'
  
• Death in Texas
  
• Alternative poster concepts
  
• Trailers
  
• DVD Rom Feature

Synopsis
David Gale (Kevin Spacey) is a Texas professor and anti-death penalty activist who, ironically enough, winds up on death row for the rape and murder of a colleague. Kate Winslet plays Bitsey Bloom, the brave journalist who sets out to tell to his story. In the days leading up to his execution, Gale fills her in on his life via flashbacks, which include political debates, lectures, sex with a student, rape allegations, alcoholism, divorce, and despair. As the hour of his doom approaches, Bitsey becomes convinced that Gale is the victim of a shadowy political conspiracy and races against the clock to prove his innocence. Director Alan Parker (Mississippi Burning) manages to deliver a strong anti-capital punishment message alongside enough twists, turns and shocking moments to keep viewers perched at the edges of their seats. Winslet and Spacey are both riveting in the leads, but its Laura Linney as Gale's alleged victim--a fellow anti-capital punishment activist and close friend--who makes the biggest impression. Gabriel Mann also scores points in a sympathetic role as Bitsey's intern. Nicholas Cage served as the film's producer. The musical score is by Parker's two sons, Jake and Alex.

Customer Reviews

STATE SPONSORED SUICIDE...
This is a terrific film. as are so many of the films in which Kevin Spacey stars. This film is about death penalty opponent fanatic, David Gayle (Kevin Spacey), whose life careens out of control once he has an unfortunate sexual interlude with a provocative student from the college in which he is a professor.

Having lost his teaching career and family over the incident and seeing his high profile role in the politics of death penalty issues consequently disappear, he ends up accused of the rape and horrific murder of Constance Harraway (Laura Linney). Constance was David's fellow death penalty oppponent fanatic and best friend, the one who stood by him through thick and thin and helped him try to regain control of his life.

Tried and convicted for her rape and murder, David is ironically now an inmate on death row. He grants an ambitious reporter, Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet), an interview just days before his execution. As his story unfolds, revealed in a series of flashbacks leading to the final denouement, Bitsey begins to believe that David might truly be innocent. She begins to investigate and put together the pieces of the enigma that is David Gayle.

As a death penalty issues film, it fails, as the film paints both sides of this hot button issue in an unflattering light. It is definitely not a propaganda film and those looking for such will, inevitably, be disappointed. As a whodunit, it succeeds brilliantly, as the plot is complex and filled with enough twists and turns and red herrings to delight even the most jaded mystery aficionado.

The film is really not about the death penalty. It is, instead, about an unhappy man, who has lost all that he holds most dear, and a decision that he makes about what to do with the rest of his life. Right or wrong, it is a decision that fuels the film and makes for some gripping cinematic moments.

Kevin Spacey is terrific in the role of David Gayle, a man who went from being on top of the world to being at the bottom of the heap. He is a man who has lost all that he holds most dear, including a relationship his beloved young son, all because of a mistake in judgment that caused him to take the wrong fork in the road of life. It is the story of a man whose life has spiraled downward, and who has given in to despair. He uses his ideological commitment as succor, ultimately seeking absolution in martyrdom.

Laura Linney is excellent as David's devoted friend and fellow activist, who sticks by him through thick and thin. She infuses the role with a certain firmness of character and quiet dedication. Hers is an activism born of measured conviction in contrast to David's more flamboyant, confrontational stance on the issue for which they share a passion. Her own personal waterloo provides the film with some lovely bittersweet moments.

Kate Winslet handles her role as the intrepid reporter with great aplomb, providing the role with a nice contemporary feel and infusing the character with a respectable American accent. Despite all this, however, she takes a back seat to Spacey and Linney in the film. Matt Craven is perfectly cast as the mysterious Dusty Wright, the cowboy whose dedication to the anti-death penalty cause goes above and beyond the call of duty.

This is simply a film about a man and his life and the decisions that he makes, right or wrong, that drive it. This film now completes a magnificent triad of films about troubled men for gifted director Alan Parker (Angel Heart, Midnight Express).

Despite its being a whodunit, this is a film that one can certainly watch again and again due to its complexity. My twenty one year old daughter has watched it three times now and claims that it is one of her all-time favorite films. I myself would certainly watch it again and would add it to my personal collection. Bravo!

Fantastic!
As a native Texan, I'm used to seeing my state and its institutions misrepresented in both the U.S. and the world media. This film, however, gets it exactly right. They actually filmed outside the real death house in Huntsville, and scenes that took place in Austin were actually filmed in Austin and at the University of Texas (my alma mater). So two thumbs high up there.

The story itself is wonderful, though I can tell you as someone who lived in Austin for six years that protests on the scale of those in the film never took place, especially not in front of the capitol building...but that's about the only thing that the film got wrong. The story is compelling, with an anti-death penalty activist on death row, awaiting lethal injection (Texas does NOT use the electric chair) and the tough, ballsy reporter who initially judges Gale the way everyone else does. The way he brings her around is fascinating and the bare truth with which he bares his soul to her...his story is not romanticized one iota. It's a great film, and one of the only films to come out of Hollywood recently that has not portrayed Texans as gun-happy zealots. Wonderful.

Suspiciously masterful
Graduating at Harvard and becoming a Professor in Philosophy at a relatively young age, you'd think that David Gale would have his life laid out nicely for him. In fact he only has 4 more days to live, having been sentenced to death for rape and murder. So what went wrong? Is there any truth behind his plea of innocence? Watch the film and follow the clues to the answers, but the puzzle cannot be completed until the very end. The movie is thrilling, horrific and sad at the same time. The cunning plot and excellent production places the film one above the rest. The story is so full of twists, it will get you jumping to all sorts of conclusions, and set your mind racing. But there is no pause for thought, the film moves at a rapid pace, relentlessly playing with the audience's emotions. A must-see for anyone who enjoys mysteries and thrillers.