Dead Man Walking (1995) * * * *

Directed by:  Tim Robbins

Starring:  Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Jack Black, R. Lee Ermey, Robert Prosky, Raymond J. Barry

It is difficult to tell a story about a complex issue as the death penalty and even more so to see it from all angles.   Dead Man Walking does not take sides.   It sees the upcoming execution of convicted murderer as not a reason to celebrate justice being done, but as a sad extension of a society that would cheer at such an event.   Even with the murderer executed, the ramifications remain for others.   This is what makes Dead Man Walking eminently powerful and at times had me teary-eyed.  

Dead Man Walking is based on the true story of Sister Helen Prejean (Sarandon), a Louisiana nun who works with poor inner-city children.   One day, she receives a letter from death row inmate Matthew Poncelet (Penn), who wishes for her counsel as his days dwindle to their inexorable conclusion by lethal injection.  He insists he's innocent and asks for Helen to serve as his spiritual advisor.  Helen agrees, much to the anger of the families of his two victims, a young man and woman who were parked in the middle of the woods and then brutalized, raped, and murdered by Poncelet and his accomplice. 

Helen meets with the loved ones of the deceased, including the man's father (Barry), whose inability to move on results in a divorce, and the girl's parents who wish for nothing more than to see Poncelet dead.  Both families believe, to an extent, that if Helen is Poncelet's spiritual adviser that she favors him and doesn't care about the victims.    Helen, like the movie itself, feels the anguish from all sides and doesn't judge anyone for how they feel.   How would we react if we were in Poncelet's or the families' shoes?  

Poncelet attempts in vain to appeal his sentence and as the witching hour approaches, he is firmly rejected by courts and the governor.   His recent regrettable white supremacist rants detailed in a news report do not help him.   All Helen can do is point Matthew in the right direction as far as admitting his sins and asking for forgiveness.   Such absolution may not come from the victims' families, but maybe he could make his peace before his death.

Susan Sarandon won the Best Actress Oscar for her quiet, stirring performance as a woman who not only can quote the Bible but understands its implications.   There is nothing flashy about Sister Helen Prejean or Sarandon's performance.   No acting flourishes or overly dramatic touches.   She only wants to do the right thing by everyone and finds in this matter that this will be unlikely.    Penn's performance of an ugly soul who isn't easy to like nonetheless draws sympathy and even compassion from the viewer.   He committed a heinous act and must pay for it, but thanks for Helen's own compassion, he is able to fully understand how his actions have destroyed others.   When he is meeting with his family for the last time only hours before his execution, I couldn't help but believe that such knowledge that you will not be around tomorrow must be crushing.   After all, even the guilty have loved ones and this evokes a sense of sympathy for men like Matthew Poncelet who did not have said sympathy for his victims.