While watching The Life of David Gale, I couldn't help but think of the dreadful I Am Sam and the awful John Q. Like those pictures, this movie takes a serious topic (capitol punishment), and approaches it in an entirely unrealistic fashion. Thankfully, this film is better than the previously mentioned titles, but not by much.

In The Life of the David Gale, Kevin Spacey plays the title character; a philosophy professor/death penalty opponent, who finds himself on death row in Texas. He may or may not have committed the murder for which he has been sentenced, and it's up to a reporter (Kate Winslet) to put the pieces of the crime together before it's too late.

This picture was directed by the terrific Alan Parker (Angel Heart, The Wall, Midnight Express), which makes this experience all the more disheartening. First off, as a statement on capitol punishment, The Life of David Gale fails miserably. In the first half of the picture, the film takes an obvious anti-death penalty approach, but as this dull thriller progresses, it's hard to know what sort of stance the film makers want the audience to take. The characterizations here are very poor, and those who oppose the death penalty in the film are drawn as crazy zealots--making it very hard to sympathize with them. Even leads Spacey and Laura Linney come across as nuts, which completely undermined any statement the film hoped to make.

The Life of David Gale never really works as a thriller either, because it's so darned predictable. I had the murderer pegged before the movie even started. It's been suggested by many in the press that the ending of this movie is mind blowing. The only mind blowing thing about it is that more people weren't able to figure out where this story is headed.

The Life of David Gale certainly has an attractive and competent cast at it's disposal. Kevin Spacey is solid as Gale, but the stilted script and clumsy direction force him over-the-top in a number of scenes (the whole alcoholic thing really wore thin.) Still, Spacey remains a captivating screen presence, and even in this mess of a film he makes the most of what he has to work with. Kate Winslet is completely wasted in her underwritten role, and many times in the film she overplays her part. In fact, there were a couple of dramatic scenes that brought giggles from the audience. Of the entire cast, it is Laura Linney who really comes alive as Gale©ös good friend and fellow death penalty opponent. With each passing performance, Linney proves to be a compelling actress. This is better work than this picture deserves.

I really hoped for more out of The Life From David Gale. I wanted a challenging look at capitol punishment. Instead, I got a predictable, half baked thriller that fizzled out completely beneath the weight of it©ös heavy-handed polemics. It's almost as if Parker and his crew became intimidated by the subject matter, and just ditched it--resorting to trite thriller clich s. Which is all the more perplexing when you consider that Parker is the director who delivered the goods in the daring Mississippi Burning.

Skip this one, folks. If you want a challenging film about capitol punishment, rent Tim Robbins' gut wrenching Dead Man Walking. And if you want to see Kevin Spacey in a thriller with spectacular plot twists, check out Bryan Singer's truly mind blowing Usual Suspects.