Dead Man Walking (1995)

Sorry, this movie sucks

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

I've only just seen the film recently. I'm a huge fan of Sean Penn and I'm so disappointed I waited so long to watch this! Susan Sarandon plays a Sister nun who helps Sean Penn's Character before he gets killed by lethal injection. She is very empathetic and forgiving to him and tries to get him to admit what he done and ask the murdered victims families for forgiveness. In the film she is met with criticism from her own family and the victims families because of her close bond with Matthew Poncelet. However she tries to be there for both sides, him and their families because she isn't taking sides, she just wants to bring god and healing to them all.

Dead Man Walking is a good movie with a well developed plot and an outstanding cast. It boasts two electrifying performances from both Susan Sarandon, who brings great depth in her Academy Award winning role, and Sean Penn, who plays a deeply troubled man that we learn to empathise with over the course of the film. I did, however, feel that the film tried too hard to make its audience feel, pushing emotion and intense dialogue on us in a way that they were expecting us to be in tears, rather than simply letting the piece and its characters speak for itself. I also would like to have learned a lot more about Sister Helen. I understand that it is not technically her story, but she is the one we follow and, as well as that, the most redeemable character here. It certainly would have made the film more effective if we had been given more information on her. Certainly thought provoking, but not as much as it would itself like to be. Well acted and nicely written, Dead Man Walking is an enjoyable two hours that is worth the watch if you are looking for a good drama. A nun becomes a spiritual confidant to a convicted death row killer when she agrees to support his appeal. Best Performance: Sean Penn

He isn't sorry for being such an arsehole in real life (but they never are!), but i digress; Concerning the film itself & authenticity:- real people simple aren't that numb to shocking/horrendous behaviour of other's & nor would they be even remotely sympathetic to such a bastard (unless they are a closet bastard as opposed to their religious preacher guise)..., if they were any good they're decent human sensibilitie's would be so offended by Sean Penn playing his real life bastard self (so convincingly) that they would hate the phucker & would volunteer to lethally inject birdschitt into him until he die's on the day of his overdue execution! Another obvious observation litigated by 'Not Your's Truly'

I think that dead man walking is a simple movie with complex emotions. In this movie, the audience sees two sides of things from Sister Helen's point of view. We get a glimpse of so many emotions, from the victim's and the guilty's. As I was tugged between two parties, this movie really made me wonder if there can be a right punishment for crimes. The movie emphasized on the fact that murderers are humans too, can feel and is able to love just as much, no matter how unforgivable their actions were. I think this movie shows how imperfect we all are, and how we are so unable to be truly freed or satisfied. But nevertheless, only a good movie can draw tears, and it did.