Dead Man Walking [DVD] [1996]

But it does not end there, as she soon finds out; and one of this movie's greatest strengths is the way in which it portrays all sides of the moral issues involved in the death penalty. There are the victims' families, a stunning 70% of which break up after the murder of a child, and who are forever stuck with the unloving last words spoken to their loved ones and the memory of all the little homely details reminding them of their loss. There are the prison guards and nurses, trying to see executions as "part of their job" - with varying success. There are the politicians, barking slogans on TV; promising to "get tough on sentencing, get tough on lenient parole boards, get tough on judges who pass light sentences." There are the convicts' families, marginalized as a result of their brothers' and sons' acts, particularly if they refuse to condemn them publicly. ("Now I'm famous," Poncelet's mother comments bitterly on the dubious celebrity status she has attained as a result of a TV show about Matt. "A regular Ma Barker!") And there is the death penalty itself, shown in all its chilling, graphic, clinical detail, here in its allegedly most humane form: lethal injections, which tranquilize the muscles while the poison reaches the convict's lungs and heart - "his face goes to sleep while his inside organs are going through Armageddon," Poncelet's attorney says at his pardon board hearing. "It was important to us to show all sides of the issue," explains director Tim Robbins on the DVD's commentary track, "not to be satisfied with soundbites, and to present the reality ... Ultimately, the question is not who deserves to die, but who has the right to kill."

At the heart of the story are two radically different individuals: Sister Helen, who has grown up in an affluent, loving family; and Matthew Poncelet, the convicted killer. And their portrayal is this movie's other great strength: without either of them, this film would not have been half as compelling. Both Sarandon and Penn deliver Academy Award-worthy performances. (Sarandon did win her long overdue Oscar, Penn lost to Nicolas Cage for "Leaving Las Vegas" - this would have been an occasion where I would have favored a split award.) Gradually, very gradually we see them get to know each other; and as they do, the visual layers separating them in the prison visiting room are peeled away. Yet, even after he has learned to accept Sister Helen as a human being (not without attempting to come on to her as if she were not a nun - director Tim Robbins's way of dispelling the notion that they might fall in love, as is so often the case in the more cliched versions of this type of story), Poncelet insists that his participation was limited to holding one of the victims down, but that it was his accomplice who raped and killed them both. And even days before his execution, he is still looking for "loopholes" in the bible, as Sister Helen admonishes him, seeing redemption as a free ticket into heaven instead of a means of owning up to his responsibility. ("I like that," he comments when she quotes Jesus's "the truth shall make you free." "So I pass that lie detector test, I'm home free.") Only in his final hour, he slowly, gradually gives up the protective layers of his bravado and lays bare his raw nerve and innermost anguish. And while he speaks, finally, in a complete flashback, we, the viewers, see what really happened that dark and lonely night in the woods, and what all the previous partial flashbacks have not revealed.

"It is easy to kill a monster, but hard to kill a human being," Poncelet's attorney once explains; and Tim Robbins echoes that sentiment on the commentary track. Yet, this movie is not about romanticizing a brutal killer, any more than it is about demonizing his victims. It is, first and foremost, an attempt to bring a complete perspective to one of contemporary America's most pressing problems, and to find a way past sorrow and hate and move towards the future. And even if you're still for the death penalty after having watched it - don't claim ignorance as to what is involved.

There are no big surprises so don't wait around for a fabulous denouement. All happens as you would expect but, in some ways, that makes the film more gripping, as it draws towards its inevitable conclusion.