The Life of David Gale

The Life of David Gale

83% Liked It
liked it

The Life of David Gale

Kate Winslet, Kevin Spacey, Laura Linney, Cleo King, Constance Jones

A man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.

Id: 9847150

Do you want to see this movie?

My Friends Said...


Recent Reviews


  • August 17, 2009
    "I am sure the filmmakers believe their film is against the death penalty. I believe it supports it and hopes to discredit the opponents of the penalty as unprincipled fraudsters." one of the critics reviews there... the critics are so wrong about it. *SPOILERS* the reason laura ...( read more)linneys character killed herself was because she was already dying of leukemia and thought it was better to go quickly than slowly and also decided to make a point. the reason kevin spaceys character essentially commited suicide also was because he'd lost his wife and son by cheating on his wife. his character also decided to make a point. critics are dopes! always enjoy watching winslet and spacey act. alan parker makes another heavily emotive reel
  • January 3, 2009
    A little pushy, a little preachy, and loaded with socio-political bias.
  • January 21, 2008
    Destined to comercial failure in the US and to be attacked and trashed by critics from the moment it was written (20% on RT?), but also the kind of film that I'm glad someone wrote. It was never supposed to be loved, on the contrary, but it did shove a couple of truths in a lot o...( read more)f people's faces, which is never confortable. The film's far from perfect, but, besides being sublemely acted (Spacey, Winslet and Linney are all in top form) it is a decent film that did its job of shaking up some consciences. And, in the end, as a thriller - despite its implausibilities - it's really a pretty darn good film.
  • November 14, 2007
    Directed by: Alan Parker.
    Starring: Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet, Laura Linney, Matt Craven.

    Many of the top critics hated this film and to be honest, I held off trying to hire it because of some of there comments. I thought it be time to finally see th...( read more)e film. This is a prime example of a problematic film, one where it is flawed, messy and has to many unnecessary moments, but one that also has major potential and shows a lot of brilliance.

    The story follows David Gale, a smart minded anti-death penalty activist who seems to have everything, a strong role as a university professor and he has a wife and a beautiful kid who he loves so dearly. When he is accused of raping an expelled student and murdering a fellow activist member, he has days before he is sentenced to death. He calls upon journalist Bitsy Bloom, someone who is not only brilliant at what she does but has also had time behind bars, he meets with her to deliver the true story of his life before his meet with death. Its great to see that the film pulls away the fiction from the film and plays like it is all real, even though the character is made up. What pulls the film down though with the script is how messy and flawed it is. For the first hour it is really by the numbers, going through the tripe we all have grown to know scaringly well. The strong message of death penalty is really bought across with too much push that we are bombarded with too many unnecessary facts and it doesn't help when we really just wants a compelling viewing experience rather than Current Events 101 shoved down our throats, especially when it isn't compelling as it could and should be. The editing was too much, taking the 'facts' of the screenplay and jumping from each line to the next, making it even that more irratating....and not to mention the cuts to words written on paper and the strange camera angles by director Alan Parker.

    Thats the problems said, because behind all of these, theres a strong film wanting to get out. You have moments of tense atmosphere and one hell of an interesting and surprisingly shocking end and the movie is helped to be carried by a very strong, controlled and tense performance by my favourite actor Kevin Spacey and a convincing performance from Kate Winslet.

    At the end of the all that, I won't be watching the film again and I'd probably forget it before long. It has moments that are disturbing and tense, it carries two strong performances and has a very intense and shocking ending, but the screenplay is also messy, by the numbers and has too many facts thrown at us to make any point of the message convincing....and the terrible editing doesn't help. As Richard Roeper said, 'A dazzling mess'.
  • October 28, 2007
    Interesting commentary on the death penalty, but some of the film-making techniques (repeatedly having us read what emotions we should feel, rather than actually evoking those emotions) made me crazy.
  • December 11, 2009
    It's a very intriguing story...
    ,he's life was sacrificed to show that you can convict an innocent man. Even sentence him to death.
  • December 6, 2009
    would have been 4 but a little disturbing
  • November 30, 2009
    Nevjerojatno dobar film, triler. Znala sam radnju prije i ocekivala sam onakav kraj, ali vrlo dobro je osmisljeno.
  • November 25, 2009
    Oh what a twist of an ending.
  • October 29, 2009
    I really don't know why this movie did not get the necessary critic acclamation it deserves....as usual kevin out does his acting skills..and this story line is beyond powerful people....if you looking for a good story that will keep your mind racing..not knowing who is right or ...( read more)wrong...then this is a must see..coz the end..I gurantee is worth it!







    Super BRILL!! Needed to win an oscar..I eman really...why did they let it slide...as usual..Kevin put up a fab performance

Opening This Week

Top Box Office

Upcoming Movies

New on DVD