The Life of David Gale

Review by Clint Morris

First things first, despite its disingenuous title, David Gale never existed.

The film is as made-up as a B&B bed setting. Not that it should take anything away from the entertainment value of the film though.

Kevin Spacey stars in the title role as a college professor, caught in a rather disorderly stage of his life. His wife is having an affair (with a guy in Spain); he's an alcoholic, and about to drum up trouble for himself by sleeping with one of his - very persuasive - students.

The young woman turns the tables on the undisruptive Gale by claiming their one-off gambol was rape. He eventually escapes the allegation, as he should - but the black cloud never quite leaves his attendance.

But just as things to start to improve, they just as soon get worse when a woman ends up inhumanly murdered and Gale -- an outspoken death penalty abolitionist -- is convicted of the crime and sentenced to die.

Touché.

Sitting in a jail cell, counting down the hours till he is executed, Gale is visited by Bitsey Bloom [Kate Winslet], a newspaper reporter, who's there to do a piece on his trial - but ultimately gets in over her head - when she discovers the man might have been framed. She involuntarily takes on the role of detective, out to solve the multifarious mystery.

While boasting good performances from Spacey - okay, when isn't he good? - and Winslet in her first American movie - David Gale seems to be aiming for much higher heights than it reaches.

It has some good moments, and its script shows panache, but all in all it's clearly evident the film lacks the arousing and power-packed punch that a good transfixing mystery-drama needs.

In some respects, it has the feel of a movie adapted from novel form that's been tightly condensed into a two hour film, where some of the depth, character elucidation and set-up have been upset for another protracted close-up of either of its two leads.

3 out of 5

The Life of David Gale
Australian release: Thursday May 22nd
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet, Laura Linney, Gabriel Mann, Matt Craven, Rhona Mitra, Leon Rippy.
Director: Alan Parker.
Website: Click here

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