I’ve been guilty of rambling too often, here is a real review for you :)
It is said, that to convey a point most aptly, one should simply state facts, and let the audience stir up the emotion. Getting passionate yourself leads the audience to believe you’ve got things under control and dont really have a point to make or a solution to seek. Following this directive, I will refrain from raving about Susan Sarandon’s performance. Or try to.
The obviously paradoxical term ’’dead man walking’’ is an expression used in prison when a death row inmate is being led to the electric chair/gallows pole/etc. That man happens to be Matthew Ponsolet, played by Sean Penn in this movie. Sean Penn may be the most *ucked up person in the world (not to be taken literally, though he DID used to be Madonna’s husband) but Sean Penn - the actor (of the piercing and cynical blue eyes) has played Matt Ponsolet to perfection. Convcted of the rape and murder of a girl, and the murder of her fiancee, Ponsolet awaits execution on death row.
Susan Sarandon is a nun in this movie, and spends her time working with the poor, singing the lord’s praises, and all that jazz. A friend suggests to her that a death row inmate needs spiritual guidance. She volunteers to help him, and that is how, the fragile nun meets Ponsolet.
But this movie is not about cliches, there is no beautiful relationship here, there is no ’’finding beauty amongst uglyness’’. Ponsolet, simply needs another person to proclaim his innocence to. His friend did it, he claims, he was simply there ’’stoned out of his mind’’. The nun finds he doesnt know anything about the bible, nor does he care for ’’spiritual redemption’’ or whatever it was she assumed he wanted. When asked if he knows who Jesus is, his reply is ’’umm.. good man.. did miracles.. in heaven..’’.
He asks her to arrange for a lawyer, a parole board, a lie detector test, a second hearing, and a whole lot of other things. Sarandon arranges all he asks, and is mired in the case, the publicity, and repeatedly has her motives questioned. A beautiful fact of the movie is that she is simply being true to her faith, without questioning it.
Of course, that doesnt stop the parents of the killed couple to question her ’’holding the poor murderer’s hand while he is being executed’’. ’’Nobody was around to hold my daughters hand while he was raping and killing her’’ says the father, quite rightfully.
There is no twist in the story here, so I’ll include the minor spoilers here, which are obvious to anyone halfway through the story anyway. The guy is obviously racist, remorseless, and very guilty. His pleas for clemency are all denied, and a date for execution is set.
So, in a nutshell - the story is - criminal caught, convicted, sentenced to die, and dies. Its what happens in between that gave Susan Sarandon an Oscar for her performance. One cannot believe she is acting. ’’Realistic’’ is redefined. If you thought Al Pachino in Scent of a Woman, or Dustin Hoffman in Rainman were realistic, Susan Sarandon sets new standards. You will quickly lose the ’’this is only a movie’’ feeling. You will not believe she knows she has a camera focussed on her.
This movie is an extremely emotional one with hardly any comedy. It is realistic beyond imagination. Reality isnt comic. Movies might be, but reality isnt. You don’t go through your life giggling and snorting at clever quips made by your equally clever friends (I said life, not an evening out) .
So why not simply watch reality for a few hours you say? :)
It’s tough to live your life like a movie, (though mine seems to be accurately portraying ’’the titanic’’ at the moment), but its even tougher making a movie which is as close as possible to the reality one (or another) lives life in.
Some people would describe this movie as morbid. It is not a negative movie though, and you will see that it plays no favourites. No glorifying death or murder.
And it makes few statements too. Stuff like ’’live by the sword, die by the sword’’, and ’’aint no rich people on death row’’ are just cliches, almost admittedly so, in the movie. There are no real questions being asked in the movie, and no actual issues raked up, that arent already being discussed. Unbelievably, this is a positive aspect of this movie, because you are left free to focus on the one thing that makes it a great movie - the performances, the acting, and making what seems like an obvious drama, so compelling in terms of human emotion.
Watch it, unless you consider F.R.I.E.N.D.S a serious and emotional drama.