The Life Of David Gale

THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE

Rating: C

Something to offend everyone.

As I slunk across the parking lot toward the movie theater, a fiftyish man and his wife passed me heading the other direction. For some unfathomable reason known only to him, he picked this exact moment to blurt out a single sentence which gave away every twist and turn in the movie I was on my way to see. Suddenly, I realized there are indeed instances when the death penalty is justified.

The film itself isn't going to change anyone's opinion on the issue of capital punishment, regardless of whether you're a vengeful, bloodthirsty zealot or a naive bleeding heart liberal. Although deeply ensconced in the death penalty issue, the plot plays out more like a mystery than a propaganda piece. Kevin Spacey portrays the fictional title character, a former college professor convicted and sent to Texas' death row six years ago for the rape and murder of a female colleague (Laura Linney). That Gale is a former crusader against the death penalty is an irony which doesn't escape him. With his execution date drawing near, his lawyer arranges a series of interviews between him and a female reporter (Kate Winslet). As Spacey relates his story to Winslet, we're shown the actual events in flashbacks. Although some of the temporal shifting is unnecessarily disorienting, the format generally works.

Ever notice how often Spacey plays a role where the entire focus of many of the scenes is solely on him? In most films, we watch the hero or heroine as that person is doing something - the emphasis is more on the action than the person themselves. But in movies such as Seven, The Usual Suspects, K-Pax, and now The Life of David Gale, there are extended scenes where we see Spacey sitting doing absolutely nothing except pontificating on his character's philosophy of life. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but I do find it rather interesting. Does he seek these types of roles out, or do they find him?

I couldn't help noticing this film harbors a resentment toward women while outwardly pretending to be pro-feminist. For some reason, the writers give Winslet a male intern (Gabriel Mann) to accompany her on her jaunt to Texas for the interview. Ostensibly, it's to provide some added interest to the script in the form of banter between the two. All it actually accomplishes is to make Winslet seem a bossy bitch as she orders Mann around, particularly because such a big deal is made of her outranking him rather than them being equals. The fact Winslet lands the assignment in the first place by threatening her boss with a frivolous sexual discrimination suit should be equally offensive to both men and women in the audience. Laura Linney's character doesn't fare any better - her early interactions with Spacey run the emotional gamut from incredibly irritating to extremely annoying as she constantly criticizes his behavior. If your response is, "That's not much of a gamut," you get my point exactly. Then there's Spacey's wife, who carries on an extramarital affair, divorces him (via e-mail no less), and takes his son away to Spain. Not to mention Spacey's former student, who seduces him and then charges him with rape. And yes, I did notice the word "Castration" prominently displayed on the chalkboard during the scene where Spacey lectures to his class. Why it's there, and how it relates to the rest of the male/female dynamics portrayed in the film, I'll let others decide. What I do know is there's something strange going on beneath the surface of this film, almost as if we're meant to be angry at the female characters.

Which brings up the next problem. Linney's murder involves being handcuffed nude and suffocated by a plastic bag taped over her head. Even worse, the killer or killers videotaped the entire event for posterity. Worst of all, director Alan Parker feels the need to show us this videotape in all its depraved detail not only once but twice during the film. I don't know about you, but I prefer my naked movie women live. If I was really, really cynical, I might posit that the murder scene represents the "payoff" or appeasement to all those viewers made angry at the women by the earlier scenes. Fortunately, I'm not cynical.

So we end up with some kind of strange pseudo-feministic snuff film. Up until now, I wasn't sure such a combination was possible. The only thing partially saving this movie from the dung heap of cinematic history is the twistiness of its plot, which at least keeps you guessing (assuming you don't encounter a blabbermouth in the parking lot). Even then, when the final revelations come to light, you're sure to shout "Horse puckey!" at the screen. But give it a little thought, and some of the far-fetched plot convolutions do make a little bit of sense, provided you're in a forgiving mood. Of course, the presence of the video camera at the murder - ultimately essential to the plot to establish what truly happened - would also have thrown a humongous monkey wrench into the prosecution's original case against Gale. And the motivation of the perpetrators, and their grasp of political logic, is highly suspect at the least. All I can say is, "Poor Cloud Dog."