Rating: 
Summary: Frustrating and manipulative.
Review: As a film student I have read many theories on film by many different theorists. One of the common ideas that come up in several of the major theories is the idea that a film manipulates an audience to feel, emote and think what the film maker intends. Hitchock was the master of such a technique. In "The Life of David Gale" this idea is used in a way that humiliates the audience. It's almost as if director Alan Parker is watching over your shoulder the entire film and is laughing at you in the end. This is a very gripping film. I found myself really wrapped up in the story, trying to figure out the puzzle and also eagerly awaiting the story to unfold and the answers to be revealed. However, this couldn't be more of a let down. After all the excitement, the ending leaves me (and apparently many viewers, including Roger Ebert) disgusted and angry. The entire story was all rubbish. The ending makes no sense, because it is not explained in anyway. I usually don't like it when a film ends with a little ribbon on top and there are no questions left unanswered but this one really needs one. It's probably worth seeing, but beware!
Rating: 
Summary: Hmmm...Interesting Life...Interesting Reviews
Review: "The Life of David Gale," just falls short. I actually thought the script was the strong point of the movie almost holding up to other thrillers of the same ilk, "Memento," and "Dead Man Walking," come to mind. However where the weakness lies is in the acting.Interesting that a director seems to have such great influence across the board on the acting of any given cast members. Take other movies that have great actors turning in semi-terrible performances, Star Wars prequels and Samuel L. Jackson and Liam Neeson and you will understand the point. Laura Linney, Kate Winslet, and Kevin Spacey are all terrifically nuanced and artful actors but here the performances just aren't believable. You can tell the actors are trying to act, instead of just presenting believable performances that puts the viewer gazing into the window of their world. Spacey is the only one that really rises above the mediocre din of performances that director Alan Parker conjures. In my mind I am comparing this movie, oddly enough, to Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," and find "The Life of David Gale," the better of the two. I believe both scripts were written with liberal political messages in mind. David Gale being anti-capital punishment, Columbine anti-gun violence. David Gale gets it more right. The story involves a group of anti-execution activists and the journalist (Kate Winslet) that has access to death row inmate Gale (Kevin Spacey) for a last week interview session to get the story right. And get the story right she does, though the movies twists and turns leaves you guessing up to the end. I felt the movie tried to explain too much and would have benefited from a simpler approach, but was intrigued to find out just where it was headed. There are some graphic scenes that are hard to watch, but in the end it leaves you thinking about the death penalty and the Texas approach to justice and leaves you with questions...What if?
Rating: 
Summary: Movie based on an absolutely unbelievable premise
Review: The entire plot teeters on a premise that no moderately informed or moderately insightful moviegoer can be expected to swallow: namely, that the anti-death-penalty movement would be advanced if only it could be proven that a single person sentenced to death has in fact been innocent of the crime for which he/she was sentenced to death. Early on in the movie Gale, a renowned anti-death-penalty spokesman, is represented as being totally defeated in a talk-show debate when he inadvertently induces his opponent to ask him to produce a single example of such an individual; he is depicted as being defeated because he cannot supply an example and has no other rejoinder! This is a turning point in the story and a point on which the entire movie rests. But it is absurd for at least two reasons: First, it is in fact well-known and agreed-on by proponents of both "sides" of the issue that there have been numerous cases of innocents who have been put to death. Second, neither "side" in fact places great weight on this fact: I take it that pro-death-penalty advocates do not acknowledge that this fact alone demonstrates the absurdity of their position (let alone, that a *single* instance of such a case would ruin their position!); nor, I assume, would anti-death-penalty advocates be at much of a loss for arguments against the death penalty if (countrary to fact) there had *never* been any innocents put to death. (My next point kind of spoils the ending; but......) Moreover, it's unbelievable that anyone in her/his right mind - let alone, someone with supposedly so much to live for - would *sacrifice life* in order to prove something that is not only already well-known but relatively insignificant to the cause for the sake of which he/she is supposed to be sacrificing life. On a side note, I would be willing to retract all that I have said so far in this review if anyone could let me know of the existence of a school that either had professors who have actually thrown the kind of party depicted in the film or had professors who were willing to participate in such a party.
Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: Watched this one tonight for New Year's Eve and thought that this film was pretty good...in the beginning it does drag just a bit...but it quickly takes off with some twists and turns that you would not believe.
A man is on death row for the murder of a woman, found dead on her living room floor, with her hands handcuff behind her back, a duct taped mouth and a plastic bag over her head that is duct taped around her throat. It is all signs of the perfect murder...but is it....watch this film and find out for yourself!!
Rating:
Summary: good movie, but the ending baffles me.
Review: i enjoyed the movie. good way to spend a sunday afternoon. i didn't understand the ending. who were those people that got the 500,000?
Rating: 
Summary: not derseving all the bad reviews
Review: I cant understand all the bad reviews this movie got. Without being the greatest I have ever seen, I consider it was quite honest and thoughtful. The acting is fine and the montage really decent. It has some disturbing twists but those are what makes you think. The way you discover the truth by viewing more and more of the infamous video tape was interesting. And no matter what anybody says, when Bloom finally reads the message "This will set you free" and views the whole tape, that is a great scene.
Rating:
Summary: well-done overall, twisted and graphic at times
Review: David Gale (Kevin Spavey) is a professor in Texas as well as an anti-death penalty activist for a group called, morbidly enough, Deathwatch. Gale is on death row, awaiting execution for the rape and morbid murder of Constance (Laura Linney), his friend and colleague at Deathwatch. His wife has left him after humiliating him with the openness of her affairs in Spain, and this time she has taken his beloved son with her. Gale has requested that only one journalist receive his last interviews, a woman with the rather dumb name of Bisey Bloom (Kate Wimslet with an American accent.) Bloom has convictions, as she once went to jail to protect her sources, so Galke knows he can trust her. She gets 3 2-hour interviews with him up till his execution. She leanrs of his life before he just became the face of a crime, of which he says he is innocent. Bloom does not really believe this -- after all, don't they all say that? As she learns more information (particularly at Constance's old house, which has been turned into the non-profit "David Gale's Death House" and a video tape of the actual crime that some weird cowboy gives her), it becomes obvious (as to the viewer) that there is far more to this and perhaps Gale is innocent. But as Gale says, he does not expect her to save him, just his son's memory of him. The cowboy follows Bloom and Zack (her intern) in such an obvious way that it is irritating that they don't think to get his license plate number till Day 3. And that they don't service the car and it breaks down as they are running out of time is just dumb. If I was driving all over Texas knowing my subject was to be executed, I would make sure to get the engine checked when I first picked up the rental car. This film does not really have that much to say about the death penalty as it does about one particular case and the man behind it. It was also good to see so many Oscar nominees and winners (Spacey, Linney, Winslet) in one film because they are talented and it added a lot to the film. But it still is short of 5 stars -- there was just something unsatisfying and unfinished about the whole thing.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Done - Great Movie
Review: The Life of David Gale is by far one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. It incorporates everything you can ask for in a movie into one edge-of-your-seat thriller. Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey (David Gale, American Beauty) and Oscar Nominee Kate Winslet (Bitsey Bloom, Titanic) star in this powerful film. David Gale is one of the leading activists for Death Watch, an anti-death activists group. After making a faulty decision at a party, Gale's reputation is scared for the rest of his life. This movie had many high points and a few low points to go with it. I believe that many people are not giving this movie the credit it deserves.
Gale is a College Philosophy Professor before his reputation is tarnished and is looked upon as a different person. David is accused of rape and murder and is sentenced to the death penalty in Texas. Gales wish is to have reporter Betsey Bloom cover his story four days before he is to be executed. During those final four days, Betsey Bloom tries to discover the truth and has to decide if Gale is in fact being truthful or in fact lying. Betsy, along with her intern reporter Zack (Gabriel Mann) work together very uniquely through many jaw-dropping scenes to an even more astonishing conclusion.
Some of the points about this movie that I felt were very well done include the eye-popping conclusion and the chronological order of events. I very much admire the way this particular films plot went in no obvious order. Flashbacks are always a great device to use in movies, and have a very powerful effect. The conclusion is the best part of this movie, hands down. If you don't enjoy any part of this movie, you cannot deny the power of the ending scenes.
The low point in "The Life of David Gale" that really sticks out in my mind is the acting. Kevin Spacey did an amazing job playing a man on death row. The only time his acting was questionable was when he is drunk roaming around the neighborhood. Kate Winslet's performance was good as a reporter, except when she is obviously over doing it a little bit. I may say this is the low point in the movie, but that's only because the movie is nearly flawless.
The power of this movie isn't only about what you see on the big screen. You have to look deeper into what the movie is getting at. Putting your life on the line for a good cause, speaking up for what you believe in, and finding out the real truth behind any story. This movie not only depicts our modern day society and teaches us a lesson about ourselves, but provides a very entertaining way of learning. This is a four star movie and I give it two thumbs up.
Rating:
Summary: Good, Solid 3.5 Star Film
Review: Set your politics aside and just enjoy a decent script with smart dialogue, an interesting plot, good acting, and very good film making. I am a strong advocate for the death penalty, and this film in no way places my support for the death penalty on the guillotine. While the script does have many logical flaws (funny since the screen writer was a philosophy teacher) and thirty minutes should have been cut, it is a fine thriller. We are given an interesting "what if" wrapped up in a riddle that unfolds itself in an interesting, albeit calculated way. An example of the clever writing and film making is found in one scene where an inhibriated David Gale (Kevin Spacey) utilizes the Socratic method by asking questions on the street to citizens about the very execution of Socrates, thus strengthening the character's political and philosophical commitment, challenging the issue, adding tension, and foreshadowing the final outcome all at the same time. Spacey and the other actors do a fine job adding ethos to the characters. It won't change your mind either way, and while it is less then perfect, this DVD is more interesting then almost everything coming out of Hollywood these days.
Rating:
Summary: This film surprised me--Doesn't get its due
Review: I really feel this film was wrongly marketed. The real crux of this film is: how far would you go to stand up for what you believe in? For me, David Gale was like William Wallace in way. No, he didn't lead Scotland on the battle field. BUT, he was so immersed in his belief system that he was willing to pay the ultimate price. The ending is such a shock, I sat open mouthed for a few moments trying to piece it all together. Spacey did a great job conveying the complexities of being human. He is a great guy, but flawed and then failed. His friendship with a fellow teacher--platonic--is the one stable thing in his life. Linney gives a solid performance. Winslet is terrific. This is a must see.
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