Unhelpful Yoda
I've only just seen the film recently. I'm a huge fan of Sean Penn and I'm so disappointed I waited so long to watch this! Susan Sarandon plays a Sister nun who helps Sean Penn's Character before he gets killed by lethal injection. She is very empathetic and forgiving to him and tries to get him to admit what he done and ask the murdered victims families for forgiveness. In the film she is met with criticism from her own family and the victims families because of her close bond with Matthew Poncelet. However she tries to be there for both sides, him and their families because she isn't taking sides, she just wants to bring god and healing to them all.
garylampkin
**NO SPOILERS** I'm enjoying upgrading some of my award winning movies to Blu-ray disc. The picture and sound quality is exponentially better than the standard DVD issues. Plus, I like revisiting the older movies in my collection. Dead Man Walking(DMW) is one of nine movies included in MGM 90th Anniversary- Best of Award Winners box set with Thelma and Louise; Midnight Cowboy; Raging Bull; Leaving Las Vegas; In The Heat of The Night; Rain Man; Dances With Wolves and Rocky. Some include extras I enjoy like commentaries by the Director, and with DMW there's one with Tim Robbins, one with Susan Sarandon and other actors, and, sometimes a documentary on the making of the movie and/or other background stories about soundtrack, script or special effects. I especially enjoy hearing the Director's viewpoint and sharing of his creative process.There's probably not much more I could say than what has already been said by other reviewers. This is a movie that will move you, and if you're not then you're not human. Great acting, great direction, great script, great cinematography, interesting soundtrack. This is not a movie for young children, very intense reenactment of a brutal crime plus language and adult themes. It's obvious in listening to the commentary tract that Robbins is anti-death penalty, but he refrains from getting preachy in the movie and leaves it to us to draw our own conclusions. So get the popcorn ready and the tissues. You are in for an emotional 2 hours.
sol-
Asked to visit a death row inmate, a middle aged nun finds herself unexpectedly bonding with the convict in question despite his heinous crimes in this well acted human drama starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon. The film is never particularly subtle with its anti-death penalty agenda and it harks on a bit too much about the ease of executing a monster (rather than human being) for its own good, however, the movie also offers a terrific character study in Sarandon's benevolent nun. Throughout the film, she is haunted by flashbacks of killing an animal in her youth and the guilt that she felt at the time, which she evidently equates with Penn's situation, convicted of killing two young lovers. As Sarandon later meets with the families of Penn's victims, the situation grows even more complex for her as she finds herself unable to escape their pain but also drawn to Penn. Solid as Sarandon is in the film though with her internally divided character, Penn shines even brighter here, especially with the changes in personality that he goes through towards the end as he sees his own end approaching. The use of close-ups on the equipment in his final scene is endlessly eerie. Director Tim Robbins also does a great job framing his two leads; there are some excellent shots of them conversing through glass panels with each other's reflection (in the glass) making it appear as if they are sitting side by side. On that note, the connection between the two protagonists here is incredibly strong - much more so than one might expect from two so vastly different human beings.
Rohit Garg
This film is about how a man, played by Sean Penn, convicted of two teenagers' murder and put on death sentence, comes to terms with his conscience with the help of his spiritual mentor, a nun, played by Susan Sarandon. It unintentionally manages to put the audience in a moral dilemma and makes them feel guilty in the end for sympathizing with a rapist and murderer. Susan delivered an incredible performance trying to defend the indefensible. Her character exposes the viewers to all aspects of the case and brings the best out of Penn as a man as well. The ending is a bit morbid yet gripping & the soundtrack is one of my favorites.
AD
